How May I Assist You?
by her vigil
Summary: AU, ShizNat: In the real world, people must pay for rent if they wish to live in something better than a cardboard box. Natsuki doesn't like cardboard boxes. Fortunately for her, the Fujino Corporation is hiring!
1. Welcome to the Real World

**author's note: **I haven't written a story in forever, much less a story that goes beyond one chapter. But, after awhile, you start to miss it! Here's the first in what I hope will end up being a medium-sized series, all for an Anime I've never written for before. Let me know what you think, and ignore my rustiness! ...oh, aaaaand, this chapter is unedited. I'll probably fix that later, when I have more than just an hour before I've got to be at work.

**How May I Assist You?**

_welcome to the real world_

Who knew how difficult life could be, once your entire day was no longer laid out for you?

Graduation from Fuuka Academy had come and gone, Natsuki Kuga having barely just managed to meet the minimal requirements to escape. She attributed such luck to her strong desire to avoid ever having to wake up at 8AM ever again (the dark haired girl having completely ignored the fact that a job would potentially require such a horrible task) and her dreams of riding the open road, no tardy and truancy yelps being flung her way. Of course, graduation was more than just a door opening to the thick and cleared out road of freedom; it was also bills, and finances, and a complete lack of housing.

"Are you kidding me?! It's just a damn one bedroom apartment!"

"I'm sorry, Miss," the man stuttered, completely taken aback by the "force to be reckoned with" that was nearly howling before him. "It's the location, see? On a very nice side of town, with free membership to our apartment building's gym–"

The lone wolf scowled. "You are insane if you think I am going to pay that."

It was twenty minutes later of Natsuki screaming and the designated on-site property manager weakening that led to the girl standing in the cleared out room one day later, hands resting on hips and a still disgruntled look gracing her features. Even though she had managed to haggle the price down a bit – much to the landlord's frustration – it was still a bit pricey for her income, which happened to be… absolutely nothing.

She did have money left over from previous part-time jobs and investments that was just enough to cover the first month's payment and security deposit. However, if she wanted to eat anytime soon, a full-time position was remarkably necessary.

It was Monday evening of her first day in her new place and Mai, being the usual positive and interfering self that she was, was busy flipping through the classifieds.

"Natsuki, why don't you try this one?" she piped up, one finger pointing boldly at a line of small print across the page.

A grunt was heard from the room opposite to where Mai was lounging, the grunt soon being followed by a resounding thunk.

"Natsuki?" Mai called out again, a small crease forming on her brow. "Did you hear me?"

Another grunt, and then – quite abruptly – a thundering roll of boxes tumbling.

"Natsuki!"

"Don't get up!" a ragged voice roared from the bedroom, correctly interpreting Mai's panicked yell of her name to mean 'don't move, I have band-aids and I am not afraid to use them!' "I just… hell, when did treadmills become so heavy?... Mai, DON'T MOVE. Just STAY WHERE YOU ARE."

The orange-haired girl blinked, slowly retreating from her partially risen stance to once again settle back onto the ramshackle couch that the pair had picked out from a local thrift store. With a flutter of paper the newspaper was drawn open once more, Mai knowing better than to continue to harass Natsuki on her wellbeing rather than letting the blunette be.

A creaking sound of wood shifting sounded off before being followed by a long sigh, Natsuki finally stumbling out from her abyss of a room. Resting one hand on the threshold of the door, she wiped a dusty hand across her forehead, ignoring the dark smear it left across her sweat-stained brow. Mai, noticing the gesture out of the corner of her eye, flicked a hand out to grab a tissue as her old-time roommate gradually approached.

"So what were you looking at?" the girl asked curiously, distractedly taking the tissue from Mai's hand, using it to blot at her forehead.

"Job listings. There's not too many going around that will probably end up in your desired pay range."

"Well… what is there, of the ones that might be worth checking out?"

Quickly, Mai scanned over those that were obviously minimum wage or entirely illegal before letting her eyes land on those that she had already circled in ink.

"Here's one. 'Act now! Free meals provided for a five-day work week, along with additional benefits for fifteen dollars an hour...'"

A weight sank onto the couch cushion beside her. "Sounds promising."

"'…to baby sit my twelve children, ages varying from newborn to thir—'"

"Stop right there!"

Mai chuckled, turning to the next page. Somehow, Natsuki's abrupt refusal didn't surprise her. "Okay, here's another one. It pays well, but it's only for two days a week."

"Skip it," Natsuki interjected, waving her hand dismissively. "I need a full time job with benefits. My health insurance canceled out, since I'm no longer attending school."

"I see… well, how about this one then?" As Mai extended a finger to point at the circled ad, Natsuki leaned forward, eyeing it dubiously. "Sure, it doesn't give many details as to what your duties may be, but considering it's an ad placed by a corporation rather than a babysitting agency, I'm pretty sure it won't involve changing any dirty diapers."

Natsuki's eyebrow quirked. "Fujino? I think I've heard that name before. What do you know about it?"

A small grin pulled at the very corner of Mai's mouth, it taking all of her control to prevent it from being displayed completely. "Oh, nothing much, other than it's one of the most successful corporations to grace the city. They've recently experienced a tsunami of success, something that could probably be blamed on one of their up-and-coming executives." Mai didn't feel that it was imperative for Natsuki to also know of the rumors that followed said executive around in the tabloids.

"So… this job is for, what, assisting?" the blunette asked, having let Mai's half-way explanation go without further interrogation.

Her friend shrugged. "I'd guess so. Why don't you just give it a chance? I'll even call and set up an interview. Who knows? Maybe if I introduce myself as 'Natsuki Kuga's secretary, at your service!' they will take you more seriously." She paused, giggling, before hurriedly speaking once more: "Just imagine the irony, if they were to hire you for a secretarial position. A secretary having a secretary!"

The loud huff from her side was enough for Mai to register Natsuki's displeasure at such a joke.

"Oh, stop being so difficult. Just give it a try, please?" When Mai saw her old roommate's disapproving expression, she used her Ace in the hole, voice dropping to a sneaky and underhanded tone: "Out of all the companies out there, the Fujino Corporation is rumored to pay the best."

She waited, and waited, and waited… the silence extending well beyond her realm of patience. But, she knew her friend, and she knew what she would end up saying, two full minutes later:

"Fine, Tokiha. But I will have your head if they have me nursing infants!"


	2. Good Morning, Sunshine!

**author's note:** Really, I need to cut it out with this reallylazyhalfassededit thing that I keep doing. Buuuut... I really wanted to get out this second chapter before I went to bed for work tomorrow morning! The first chapter is kind of too small to allow anyone to get a feel for how this is going to go, and... to be perfectly honest? One of the things that irritates me most - as a reader - is to start reading a story, realize that I like it, and THEN realize that the chapter is like... two pages long in Microsoft Word. It's such a tease.

...and when I say that, I'm not referring to the _good_ sort of tease. :D

Thanks for all the reviews! I was super stoked upon reading them!

**How May I Assist You?**

_good morning, sunshine!_

"I would hate to burden someone with the duty of being my assistant, Father," the voice spoke placidly, the wafting scent of heated tea somehow accenting the words with thoughts of still waters and calm lakes. "I do believe I am quite capable of handling such matters on my own, as they are quite simple in nature."

"That is exactly my point, Shizuru."

The room was well lit and covered with a sense of power and polished wealth, an ambiance that the head of the Fujino family had worked for many years to achieve. The desk itself was exquisite, made of beautiful yet sturdy wood, the leather of the chairs about it mimicking such a feel with their oiled softness. The décor that covered the room was minimal, as its owners knew that random bits of expensive oddities were not required to convey the preexisting subtle sense of wealth. A few framed pictures, sparse in nature, hung from the walls; several well-cared for plants, blooming, stood by the large, uncovered window. The most notable feature of the room was its extension: a small door that led to a room, decorated with traditional Japanese screens and low cushions, that contained a virtual Zen-like "tea center." It was somewhat of a joke between the two, Shizuru and her father, that led to its creation. Their greatest common thread happened to be their enjoyment of tea and the solitude and relaxation with which it provided them.

The older man reclined in the plush chair at the head of the desk, fingers folded neatly before him in his lap. His daughter, one arm resting its fingertips on its opposite's elbow, quietly sipped from a tea cup that hung delicately in slender hands as she faced the window.

"You are being given more responsibilities, as your success with your previous duties has given me reason to trust you with more time-consuming tasks." A low sigh rumbled in the man's chest. "This latest request is, perhaps, the most difficult one I will task you with for quite some time. I still worry over leaving you to handle such a monstrosity all on your own."

The barest hint of a smile touched over Shizuru's calm expression as she turned, slowly and gracefully, to face the brooding man in the seat before her. "You needn't worry," she reassured him, voice soft. "Consider it just another necessary staple of my education."

He laughed. "Of course. But… do understand why I deem it necessary for you to take on an assistant. He or she will be doing mundane tasks, yes, but you know my policy of paying my employees well. In return for our generosity, your assistant will be expected to deal with the minor details that you haven't the time for, say… organizing your schedule or perhaps, taking notes. Picking up your lunch. Preventing unwelcome intruders from interrupting your scheduled meetings—"

"Ara, Father," the girl chuckled. "You make my future assistant sound like an odd combination between a pizza delivery boy and a bodyguard!"

His sudden retort, just as cheery: "And that is what they must be!" He rose from the leather seat with another sigh before straightening, dusting invisible specks off the front of his suit. "I am serious, Shizuru. With this entire building at your beck and call, you will soon understand the necessity of having someone there to deal with picking up your dry cleaning and turning away unexpected visitors. With so many requiring your attention, it can become quite overwhelming, as I would know." He touched a gentle hand to the top of her head, nearly going to ruffle it before he stopped himself, smiling at her before he turned to go. It was only after his hand had reached the doorknob that he stopped once more, head bowed before he turned to speak.

"Just be careful with whom you decide upon. They will become quite a significant part of your life, both in the office and out."

"Yes, Father."

--

"Mai, you idiot!"

The curse was barely audible, having been muffled by a mixture of helmet, wind, and burning rubber. Natsuki was, to say the least, having a ride that typically would have been just enough to make her day land one notch higher on the scale of "goodness." Unfortunately for that scale and Natsuki, the ride itself was tainted with the building sense of panic that was plaguing her. Unfortunately for Natsuki and her bike, Mai Tokiha was evidently born without common sense.

"What were you thinking, Tokiha? Scheduling something so early?"

The blunette thought that Mai, out of all people, would know better. During her stay with Mai through which she had attended Fuuka Academy, not a single day had passed that didn't involve the girl waking up far too late. Though tardiness had never bothered her when it came to class, it absolutely _horrified_ her when it came to job interviews. After having lost a few golden opportunities thanks to having appeared at a company's front door but one minute too late, the paranoia cemented.

With her apartment, her gas, her food, and – good God – her freedom to devour copious amount of mayonnaise – all at stake, to say that Natsuki was terrified was putting it very lightly. Luckily, her polished Ducati was a master at dealing with such unexpected issues, and it hugged every hairpin turn and split-second weave with remarkable accuracy and speed.

The bike roared down the street, a raging gust of wind whipping up at Natsuki's back. Hair, skirts and debris went flying in its wake, car alarms sounding off in a wave-like formation as the explosive volume of the engine vibrated every vehicle that ringed the street.

"And I didn't even get to pick out a damned decent outfit!..."

A horn blared and the girl smoothly slid her ride around a car left gridlocked in the center of the intersection, ignoring the outraged yell that its driver spat out from his lowered window.

"…idiots."

Fujino Corporation's newest building was now less than two blocks away.

--

"...what did you say your previous occupation was?"

"I was a teacher's assistant at a prestigious university!"

A slow nod: "I see. Please, continue."

The man lifted a file, papers spraying everywhere as he nearly shook it in front of Shizuru's face in his excitement. "I have a system that better helps establish positive and negative reports for my employer while also adding a bit of light to the work day! See?" One paper was yanked out of the pile, being held – by a twitching hand – inches away from the Fujino's expressionless face. "Look to the top right. A sticker, get it?"

He snatched the paper back and away from the girl, abruptly thudding his pointer finger's tip down on the top edge of the document. "Smiley and frowny-face stickers. Don't get me wrong, I know it sounds silly," a nervous laugh, "but, see… this report shows a decrease in, for example, grade medians. Translate that to business and we can quickly file through those that display company progress and those that display company downfalls! Besides," he stopped, snickering a bit as he drew yet another paper out, pushing it face up on the desk towards the woman, "I have a few stickers for when we're doing absolutely horrid."

Shizuru, eyes slowly drawing downwards, made no other movement to possibly indicate that she had seen the man's prize: a vomit-face sticker.

"Well, beyond my other qualifications, that's what I've got that no one else has," the man muttered, scrambling to gather up his mess as he snapped up straggling papers from the desk, floor, and edges of his seat. Pulling unsteadily to his feet, he moved forward to extend a hand for a shake before thinking better of it, jerking the palm back rapidly. Instead, the palm went to wipe its clammy skin against the ruffled material of its slacks before gripping tightly at the edges of his reclaimed file.

"I really hope you will consider me, Fujino-sama," he executed a hasty bow and stepped away. "I am really looking forward to your call!"

It was only after the door clicked shut behind the latest candidate that Shizuru released the breath she had been holding, eyes squinting tightly shut as a hand raised to press tiredly against her temple.

She had been going through such nonsense all morning starting at 6AM, sharp. It only made sense to her that she ought to deal with the task of selecting a personal assistant as quickly as possible, if only so that she could then spend the majority of her time on more significant matters, such as her father's company's growth. However, such logic did nothing to ease the headache that had begun to develop after the third or fourth candidate. Recalling the moment with displeasure, she noted that it was probably his insistence of having "shot-glass breaks, because frankly, I work better after I knock back a few shots of JD's, if you know what I mean," that led to the pulsating pain that now radiated up from the back of her head down the sides of her face.

"Are you ready for your next appointment, Fujino-sama?" a voice spoke from the telephone at her right.

After pausing to take a long, careful sip from her steaming cup of tea, Shizuru held down a button on the machine, leaning forward a tad bit in her seat. "Yes, Morioka-san. Thank you."

Shizuru spent the next several minutes recomposing herself, even going so far as to gently prod her carefully arranged display of pencils and pens back into their proper homes, a soft _tisk_ sounding from her pursed lips as she plucked a rogue smiley-face sticker off from the cap of one favored ballpoint pens. By the time she had repaired her equipment's placement on her desk – and even turned slightly in her seat, to press a careful finger to her potted plants' soil to make sure each was adequately watered – she could hear the ruckus starting outside.

"Shit!" Muffled, sudden and unexpected. "I can't believe… stuck!" Another muffled curse, this one impossible to discern. "I-… ah, I forgot to leave my helmet-… but I'm alre-… late, shit!"

A slow, owlish-like blink fluttered over Shizuru's eyes, their gaze dropping to rest heavily on the door that now seemed to be eons away.

What felt like a long silence ensued before, gradually, the polished door handle began to turn, hesitantly. The executive felt her breath hold tight in her lungs, an unexpected rise of anticipation catching it in place.

The door eventually followed after the movement of its handle, going to swing forward as a voice slipped out from behind.

"I apologize…"

Finally, it drew open in its entirely, revealing a disheveled women from behind its depths, dark blue hair blown askew and helmet hanging limply from tensed fingers.

"…for my tardiness."

"Apology accepted," was the low-voiced reply.

--

By the time Natsuki had pulled up to the admittedly impressive (and highly intimidating) building before her, she had already signed and sealed Mai's death warrant, all within a matter of seconds. The rush into the lobby only served to frustrate her further, as she was stopped by an insultingly inquisitive security guard who only allowed her access to the elevators – and the building's twenty-fifth floor – after both interrogating her and confirming that her presence was, yes, indeed required, five minutes ago actually, as she was Natsuki Kuga, Natsuki as in NA, TSU, KI, Kuga as in KU, GA, and she had an interview.

Really.

So, it really was no surprise that by the time she got to the door of her potential employer, she was quite a mess, physically and emotionally. It took her several minutes of whispered cursing and struggling before she felt ready enough to even consider walking through the door. It was only after another deep, deep breath – and a rustle of calloused fingertips through her hair – that she moved forward to push the door open.

What waited her inside was, to say the least, something completely unexpected.

The wealth that the room radiated had nothing on the burst of open skies at the room's back. The window made her feel like she was quite literally soaring over the city's skyline, the horizon nothing but a distant curving slope in the distance, smoothness broken by the ridged tops of high-rise buildings and one plane. The few plants that adorned the frame of the window only added to the feeling of fresh air that she drew in, making her feel almost lightheaded with disorientation.

As breathtaking as the scene – and its view – was, its importance was abruptly lost on the girl when her eyes fell to the figure behind the desk. The woman was dressed simply in a two-piece lavender suit that fit her curves as if it was made for her. The jacket was long sleeved, with a white undershirt that hung delicately underneath. The bottom half, a narrow skirt, stretched only to the woman's knees. Lastly, the biker's gaze snapped to the female's eyes, a deep crimson; they held her, the slightest glint in them giving Natsuki enough reason to feel a developing sense of unease rising from the pit of her stomach. The staring contest was only broken by the woman's response to Natsuki's murmured apology, the latter having all been done with the girl in a trance-like state.

"T-thank you," she stuttered in reply, inwardly cursing at the abrupt rise in pitch that she was embarrassed to call her voice. "Um, I'm not quite sure where we should—

"Please, sit." The woman gracefully gestured with a hand, indicating the chair before her. "Make yourself comfortable."

Natsuki nearly fell into her seat, the excitement of the ride and the intense look in the shared gaze finally overwhelming her. She made no move to adjust her windblown self – other than letting her helmet drop with a soft thump onto the carpet next to her feet – as the woman fanned through several papers with the edges of her fingertips before coming to a stop.

"Natsuki Kuga, I presume."

A hurried reply: "Yes."

"I am Shizuru Fujino, head of the latest division of Fujino Corp. to open in this district… though I am sure Kuga-san has already guessed as much, has she not?"

Natsuki, unsure of whether she was supposed to input a response, opened and closed her mouth several times before she realized that no sound was coming out.

Shizuru continued on, seemingly oblivious to the struggles of the girl before her: "It seems that my duties have increased tenfold and, as such, I require someone to deal with the necessities that would otherwise go untouched. The tasks will be simple, for the most part, and you will be more than adequately compensated for your troubles."

The biker remained silent.

"Now," the woman began once more, eyes lifting from their previous spot on the paper before her to gaze steadily at the suddenly shifty girl at her front. "I have but one question for you, Kuga-san."

Natsuki abruptly nodded her head in awkward affirmation.

"How proficient are you with…" Her eyes glinted, darkening just enough to make Natsuki twitch: "...computers?"

She blinked, heavily, before the sluggish response followed. "I'm… alright, I guess."

"Very good!" The suit-clad woman clapped her hands together, expression changing abruptly from calm serenity into something more akin to childlike glee. "I shall see you tomorrow at eight, bright and early in the morning."

_Wait… what?!_

Natsuki opened her mouth, expecting a torrent of confusion to explode forth… and instead found that nothing other than a remarkably soft croak was released. Shaking her head, she cleared her throat and tried again.

"Wait… does that mean that I'm hired?"

The woman nodded once more, mirth showing clearly in her crimson-covered gaze. "That is absolutely correct."

Though Natsuki knew that she was idiotic to even consider questioning the acceptance of her application, the younger girl couldn't help but be confused. While Fujino Corp. had a reputation of cushioning their employee's salaries quite well, they also had a reputation of being the sort of company to take the time and care to hire on those that were guaranteed to benefit and push forward their specific intents. An applicant's acceptance into Fujino Corp. had just recently become the equivalent of an acceptance to a prestigious law firm or, say, a well-loved university. The girl couldn't help but wonder why she, out of all people, had been hired on so rapidly by the well-dressed woman that sat before her. Appearance certainly had nothing to do with it, as her hair was a mess that could only be attractive to a porcupine and her clothes, well… they were certainly not suitable for office-wear, unless said office had a strong affinity for leather, denim, and motorcycle helmets.

"I'm sorry if this comes off as rude, Fujino-sama, but… I don't… understand. What made you decide so quickly?"

Quickly, the mirth drew back into the depths of the gaze before her, a look of composed placidity covering the woman's expression though the amusement still barely hovered at the corner of her lips.

"To be quite honest, _Kuga-san,_ I have had a terribly long morning, and I am just relieved to finally rest eyes upon somebody that has not yet assaulted me with glorified tales of their college years nor page upon page of vomit-face stickers."

Shizuru, seeing the blatant look of outright confusion and surprise flash across the blunette's face, hid her growing smile behind a sip of her now lukewarm tea.

"I will admit that my decision is hasty, but… let us just say that I have a strong feeling about you, and I would be a fool to disregard it. As is such, I will be delighted to wake up to you, first thing tomorrow morning." The barest hint of mischief sparked in her eyes whilst shocked panic, blatant and sudden, sparked in Natsuki's. "And, please," she added, voice drawing to a soothing low, "…call me Shizuru."

The struggle with Natsuki's facial coloring – as to whether the cheeks should turn a deathly shade of pale or a bright, bright red – soon ended with the blush residing as the reigning victor. As she felt her cheeks heat, she surged to her feet, barking out a quick "Thank you, Fujin—Shizuru! Shizuru-san!" before walking, quite quickly and quite stiff-leggedly, towards the door. It was only after the door had snapped shut behind her that Natsuki let her barely maintained composure crack in its entirety, shoulders hunching up in an odd mixture of defensiveness, frustration, confusion, and outright irritation. Not only was the girl in there a virtual tease, what with that ridiculously sensual drawl to her Kyoto accented voice, but she had given Natsuki rein to speak to her sans honorific, sans the one thing that reminded them both of their designated positions in life.

_How can I call my now-employer that, as if we've known each other all our lives or-… _The next thought was muffled out amidst much frustration and teeth gritting. _Shizuru. How is it possible that I've only been a part of this company for, what, MINUTES, and already… my boss is getting under my skin in the least comfortable way possible?_

So entrenched was Natsuki within her own thoughts that she didn't hear the door open once more behind her, much less the soft pad of feet stopping but scant inches away. A soft tap on her shoulder was enough to shake her out of her reverie and, with a look that could only be comparable to that of a deer in headlights, she turned… coming face to face with a clearly entertained Shizuru.

"I am sorry to interrupt Natsuki when she appears to be thinking so tirelessly," she spoke as her eyes caught onto Natsuki's own, the shellshocked girl having been thrown too offguard to notice the casual use of her first name. "But, I do believe that she forgot a significant piece of her wardrobe."

The sound that issued from the biker's throat was nothing short of a squeak as she reached forward to snatch the helmet that dangled, teasingly, from the tip of Shizuru's fingertip: "Thank you! Seeyoutomorrowateight!" And then, she fled.

Shizuru was left in the richly lined hallway that led to her office, amused and smiling_…_ before she turned, retreating back into the depths of her top-floor office.

_I do believe that I have chosen a worthy candidate. __…or, at the very least, I've chosen someone that will provide me with plenty of fun.  
_


	3. Good Looks Will Get You Everywhere

**author's note:** You know, it's a lot easier to get chapters out more quickly when one isn't distracted by summer. As I'm distracted... this is also only halfheartedly edited! Yayy! (Sorry, sarcastic streak. You know how it is.)

**How May I Assist You?**

_good looks will get you everywhere_

"Oh, come on, Natsuki. You can't be mad at me forever. Besides, you still got the job, didn't you?"

A muffled "nn" from a nearby fitting room was her only confirmation.

"Tell me how it went again! I still can't get over it." Mai paused, flapping open a previously folded pair of pants to gaze at them thoughtfully. "I mean, one of my cousins happens to work there… and his interview took a whole, full hour! That's not including the paper work. Even then, they wouldn't tell him right away if he got the job." She swished the pants around, glancing at its other side. "They kept him waiting for _three whole weeks._ Here, try on this pair."

The door slipped open, a single hand darting out to snatch the pair of pants before retreating back into the room's depths, the door slamming shut once more.

"I'd say you're pretty lucky, _Kuga-san,_" Mai continued as she ignored Natsuki's refusal to reply, her voice taking on a sly tone. "Lucky in work, or lucky enough to be born with good looks."

"Oi! Fujino-sama said that she had had a long day! She just let her fatigue do the talking!"

_Her fatigue or her hormones, hn? _A wicked grin formed on the orange-haired girl's face before she plucked up several collared button-up shirts, throwing them and their hangers over the door into the fitting room occupied by her friend. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Natsuki. And, by the way… aren't you supposed to call her _Shizuru_ now?"

The clattering of hangers and thump of clothes hitting the floor was enough to startle a chuckle out of Mai. It wasn't long until Natsuki, supposedly having recovered, shouted back a reply given in a tone that clearly indicated her irritated state:

"What's it to you?! It's probably just some business technique meant to get people comfortable so they work harder or some crap. I don't know, and I don't care. Oi, get away from the door."

Just as Mai scrambled away from the well-locked room, the door swung open, revealing a fully transformed Natsuki Kuga. The short-haired girl couldn't resist, letting loose a long wolf whistle that was enough to deepen the already dark scowl covering Natsuki's face. She motioned frantically with one hand, indicating to the blunette that she should turn slowly, which she did (very grudgingly, Mai noted). Having seen the entire outfit from a full three-hundred and sixty degrees, Mai rooted her hands on her hips, a firm and definitive nod signaling her satisfaction.

"Very good, Natsuki," she said, as if she were speaking to an unruly teenager. "We have found you six acceptable outfits to officially mark the beginning of your professional wardrobe."

Ten minutes later they were at the register, a groaning Natsuki allowing her slumped head to rest in her crossed arms on the counter. Mai, unnerved, handed her credit card to the puzzled sales associate with a smile and an explanation:

"She normally only spends her money on mayonnaise and motorcycle equipment. Natsuki, wake up! Remember this total so you can pay me back later when you're rich!"

--

At 6AM the next morning, Shizuru slowly sat up from her bed, a long, cat-like stretch dragging from the very tips of her fingers to her toes. It was accompanied by a yawn which was then followed with a relieved sigh, crimson eyes half-lidded as the fatigued yet sated woman glided from her luxurious master bedroom towards the marble-tiled bathroom. Her home was a quiet and secluded one, located far enough from the heart of the city to avoid its boisterous noise but close enough to avoid being too detrimental to her time spent in a car on a daily basis. She loved every inch of it – every well-cared for plant, well-polished marble, well-folded Egyptian cotton sheets – and it was rare for her to feel little to no regret at leaving it for the cold firmness of the Fujino office in the mornings.

Evidently, this morning was one of those rare mornings, one where she felt a sort of excitement with each minute's approach to the beginning of her work day. At first, she was tiredly puzzled at the growing sense of anticipation that crouched at the back of her mind. The reason behind it didn't come to her until nearly a full two hours later, as she stepped into the back seat of her chauffeur's black Jaguar, one hand already wrapped around a warm cup of Jasmine tea.

_Ah, yes… Natsuki._

As the outside world whipped past Shizuru's window, turning the sight into a multicolored blur, the faintest hint of a smile quivered at the corner of her lips. With her arm wrapped across her midsection and the other using its brethren as a form of an arm rest (the hand still clutching the tea), she let her head drift back against the leather seat.

_I am not sure what it is about you, but I do believe that I am quite intrigued. _Though their time together had been brutally short, the image of the dark-haired girl had implanted itself firmly in her thoughts. Perhaps it was the outfit, so different and daring than those that had stood in her presence, or possibly the way she stood, stiff and tension-ridden, shoulders looking like they'd been trained to replace Atlas' own for the next century. Or maybe the long hair that begged to be played with by an inquisitive soul, or the slender athleticism of her figure, or even the contour of each tendon in her hands, lithe, but strong—

_Ara, I am getting ahead of myself,_ thought the Fujino executive as she chuckled into the edge of her cup. _But, if I must be honest, I suppose…_

…_it is the eyes that are the most striking._

Shizuru couldn't deny the unanticipated feeling of mischief and delight that had sprung up in her chest at the girl's reactions to her very miniscule verbal prodding during the interview. However, it had been the _eyes,_ the flashing, deep, beckoning emerald hue, that had led to her pursuing her directionless game from the start, and that had resulted in the applicant's portrait being hung within the recesses of her mind. A small sigh, more thoughtful in nature than anything else, slipped from between her lips. If she wasn't careful, she could see herself becoming rather occupied with her young assistant.

The car came to a stop. As Shizuru straightened in her seat, fingertips going to brush carefully at a straying strand of hair, a flicker of movement – accompanied by a loud roar – set off from the very edge of her sight. The crimson eyes slid over smoothly, one eyebrow rising delicately upon recognizing the latest arrival to the company's employee parking lot.

_I suppose it will be safe to keep Natsuki in my thoughts for now, as she appears to be quite impossible to ignore._

--

It had taken hell, but Natsuki had managed to arrive to work ten minutes before eight. She had to admit that the fact that she could relax for ten minutes (rather than spend that same amount of time weaving through screaming drivers, burning through aged yellow lights and hauling ass past red ones) was – surprisingly – _nice. _Sadly enough, that warm sense of relief and ease, feeling like a virtual torrent of spa-water rushing through her veins, only lasted several seconds. Unfortunately for Natsuki, Shizuru-_san_ was just as difficult to forget as Natsuki was to her employer.

_It's got to be some office tactic,_ she tried to convince herself, the force she used to yank off her helmet betraying the lack of confidence that she held towards her own thoughts. _Really, it's got to be. _Automatically, she slipped her leg up, over and off her bike, letting the helmet go to hang off of one of the handlebars as she bent to rummage through her backpack for her company keycard, the one thing that would allow her to bypass the annoying security guard at the front desk.

_I mean, what other reason does she have to want to go on a first name basis?_ A scowl slowly rose to invade Natsuki's expression. _Does that mean I have to let her address me just as casually?... shit! Well, she already did, but… damn! Why can't anyone act normal in this city anymore?!_

Unbeknownst to the remarkably focused and crouching biker, a shadow had eclipsed over her own, betraying the presence of another. The appearance continued to go unnoticed, Natsuki having finally resorted to muttering dark and vivid curses under her breath as she shuffled through her pack's contents… until an unexpected warmth brushed itself, ever so softly, against her back – and directly against her right arm.

_Natsuki froze._

Wide-eyed, the girl watched as slender fingertips reached forward and around her, deftly plucking up a single metal-laced card from the Armageddon-like abyss that she called her backpack. The other hand (that did _not_ belong to the young biker but rather, the visitor at her back) had placed a careful palm against Natsuki's left arm, just enough to maintain a sense of balance. Even as the card was offered to the girl held within the warm halfwaynearlyalmost-embrace, she remained unmoving. Several more seconds passed, until, _finally,_ the unblinking Natsuki registered just what was taking place.

She lunged – face-first – forward, towards the freedom of unoccupied asphalt.

Shizuru moved her outstretched arm out of the way just in time to avoid being snagged by Natsuki's haphazard escape plan, her unoccupied hand rising to cover the soft laugh that nearly spilled from her lips. She stayed crouched where she was, the card-holding arm going to wrap itself around her midsection in her token "Shizuru stance" while the other turned its palm upwards, the Fujino's chin having moved to rest atop of it.

"Ara," she spoke in smooth Kyoto-ben, "If Natsuki was so eager for work to begin, why did she not leap towards the door rather than the pavement?"

The girl in question scrambled up from her place on the parking lot's surface, spraying forth a mixture of dirt, leaves and rogue bits of her backpack's contents in her panic. As she bent to hurriedly retrieve the various stray objects – house keys, paper clips, a cell charger-… good _God, _a _tampon!_ – she whipped her head about, shooting a murderous glare over her left shoulder. She'd be damned if she let _anyone,_ even her boss, get away with such an intrusive act without being punished by the trademark "Kuga death glare"!

The "Kuga death glare," a look that often was more than enough to disable even the most ferocious of beasts, appeared to have the opposite affect than what its owner intended. Rather than being frightened to tears or spurned into fleeing, the Fujino's eyes just seemed to glow brighter.

An hour later, after the excitement had died down, Natsuki would wonder: _…since when have I ever considered a person's eyes to be __**glowing?**_

"Oi, Fuji-… ah, Shizuru-…san. You-…"

"Shizuru," the woman corrected, all too patiently.

Natsuki felt her glare erode into nothing other than a heated (and slightly agitated) blush. "...Shizuru. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

"But Natsuki is so cute when she is flustered!" the suit-clad woman replied, delighting in the look of utter horror that dawned on the biker's face at the use of the word _cute. _"Ara, how can I resist further provoking such an adorable sight?"

"SHIZURU!"

A quirk pulled – _hard –_ at Shizuru's lips once more, and suddenly it became twenty times more difficult for her to conceal her glee. The motorcyclist had turned cherry red within a mere second and looked as if she was literally about to pop.

"Just-… you-… gah!" The younger woman huffed loudly, one arm swinging rapidly down to snatch her backpack while the other jerked the motorcycle helmet off the bars of her bike. "It's getting late! Let's get to work!"

With those very unNatsuki-like words having been flung to the air, the girl stormed off towards the entrance to Fujino Corp.

"So flustered…" Shizuru hummed lowly to herself, body gracefully straightening as she stood before she turned to walk leisurely after her steaming companion, already far ahead. "…so flustered, that Natsuki seems to have forgotten her key."

A distant cry of "SHIT!" was heard echoing in the distance, followed by the sound of infuriated fists pounding on steel. All the while, Shizuru kept to her sauntering pace, the ghost of a smile still dancing over the Fujino executive's lips.

_Absolutely adorable._

--

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that Natsuki's first day orientation began, a process that had to wait until the biker had hunted down the employee locker room, changed (into black slacks, a black button up shirt – with the end left untucked – and, much to her chagrin, a sleek pair of heels), made her long hair appear at least remotely presentable and, finally, found her way back to the elevator that took her to Shizuru's top story office. She felt like she was entering it for the first time all over again, though instead of irritation and nervousness being attributed to her tardiness, it was focused on her employer's _smooth move._ Tension enclosed her like a tight-fitting glove. As she strode from the polished elevator doors, step darkly purposeful and expression a mixture of forced solemnity and determination, she couldn't help but flash back to a vision of Shizuru's face with its subtle tinge of mischief hiding behind red eyes. Actually, perhaps it wasn't a flash back at all… as Shizuru walked out of her own office, her face seemed to take on a look nearly identical to the one from the parking lot. Well, at the very least, it was _very_ similar…

…similar if you considered her elevator eyes to be the rough equivalent of whatever the "find the key card in Natsuki's bag!" fiasco was.

"O-oi!" the girl stuttered, startled out of her 'big fat serious face' by the clear one-over that her boss was giving her. "My face is up here!"

Rather than reply right away, Shizuru instead lifted her previously lowered gaze to lock eyes with Natsuki, her lips crooking with a tiny shadow of a smile as she watched the younger girl begin to fidget uncomfortably.

"Of course, I could never forget Natsuki's face," she cooed, coaxing yet another blistering red blush out of the biker. "Much like a rose blossoming with how often it changes hues."

"SHI—"

"Ara, I am amiss in my duties. I apologize."

Shizuru beckoned the girl forward, seemingly wiping her expression of its playful mirth. With a huff, the blunette stepped (stomped) towards the desk, taking a reluctant seat in the chair that the older girl motioned to gracefully with a hand. Her shoulders locked in place, expecting the woman at her back to take advantage of her physical vulnerability at any second… but rather than prey upon the suspicious Natsuki, Shizuru innocently began her tutorial instead.

"You will likely alternate most frequently between Excel and Microsoft Word when on the computer, all easily accessible from the desk top," she started, one hand resting on the cool leather on the upper back of Natsuki's seat. "Beyond that, all of the files required for contracts, contacts and future projects are kept in a separate office, one floor down. The file cabinets you have in these lower two drawers are used most frequently as an index to the more extensive filing room downstairs as well as storing away information for projects on which we are most focused."

At Shizuru's slight pause in her speech, Natsuki nodded, though her mind was spinning with the information given combined with her sudden sense of claustrophobicness due to the Fujino's close proximity.

"We also have an online database for our employees. You will be given the key code to that momentarily along with a login name. Within 48 hours you will need to use that key code and login name to log into the system and change the default code to your own personal identification number. This same login name will be used for your time clock and to track your movements through the company system. Lastly, it will be utilized when you need to gain access to and take from our filing room."

Noticing Natsuki's blank stare, Shizuru shrugged her shoulders slightly. "We have had issues regarding… conflicting interests with some of our employees."

The tutorial continued on for several more minutes, Shizuru stopping frequently to ask her newest employee if she still followed. By the time the honey-haired girl had completed her instructional introduction, Natsuki was fully overwhelmed and Shizuru, amused, felt the need to reassure the pup.

"If you have any trouble, we have a full booklet – both a hard copy and digital one – that will guide you. If that is not enough, I am always available."

Natsuki, mortified at the thought of popping her head into the office of one of the wealthiest women in the city just to ask "hey, I can't seem to locate the spam filter, if we even have one, because if we do it needs to be fixed, because pictures of naked girls keep popping up on my screen" (naturally, the girl jumped to the worst possible scenario), could only shake her head dumbly, the odd combination between a nod and a "no" making the motion look far more complex than it needed to be.

There was yet another pause before the Kyoto-ben-accented woman spoke.

"Natsuki ought to not worry. I will take care of her the best I can."

Her reply was an outraged sputter. "I-I can take care of myself!"

"Ara, but of course," and with that Shizuru lightly patted the girl on the head, coaxing yet another muttered curse and flinch from the blunette. _Let us start things simply,_ she thought to herself, knowing better than to speak her strategy aloud. "If Natsuki would be so kind as to perhaps brew us some tea, I would be ever grateful."

_Well, that's easy enough…_ The past offense was abruptly forgotten as Natsuki inwardly delighted at her first task being an easy one. She stood from her seat, striding determinedly towards the elevator. It wasn't until she stopped in front of the slick doors, finger extending to hit one of the obtruding buttons, that a soft and polite call stopped her in her tracks.

"Natsuki."

Her eyebrow twitching, Natsuki turned, hard green eyes alighting upon the clearly entertained girl that held a careful hand over her lips, masking her delight in its entirety.

"…yes?"

"The tea room is my office."

Natsuki was displeased.

--

The rest of the day progressed much the same as the beginning, the greatest change of pace being Natsuki's yelp that accompanied her poor attempt to brew tea early on. From that point, Shizuru inwardly decided that Natsuki was no longer allowed to approach hot water nor tea pots in any shape or form, and that Natsuki was – for some reason or another – incapable of changing her own bandages.

By the end of Natsuki's first day at work, her neck's tendons felt like they were going to snap from the strain of what felt like an infinite amount of tension. If Shizuru's light teasing wasn't enough to drive Kuga to insanity, the Fujino's insistence on handling and re-bandaging Natsuki's minor burn on her fingers certainly was. At 8PM sharp, Natsuki - relieved at the thought of blush-free freedom - flung herself into the nearest bathroom, changing from her evidently "alluring" outfit into something far more comfortable. With the hint of a sigh spilling from her lips, she exited the bathroom and headed to the elevator, prepared to begin the journey down to the ground floor.

_I took around ten minutes in there. Shizuru probably left already…_ Lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed, she let her intent stare hit the slowly opening doors of the elevator. _If I'm lucky—_

"How kind of Natsuki, to wait for me before exiting the building," the voice began in smooth Kyoto-ben. Natsuki flinched as the sound of heels clicking on marble tile stopped right behind her, her stare at the too-slow elevator doors becoming a glare as she felt her employer's gaze settle firmly onto the back of her head. "I suppose I ought to not worry about walking out alone," she spoke with a soft chuckle, trailing languidly behind the blue-haired girl as Natsuki stiffly walked into the elevator. "Not with Natsuki here to take care of me."

Natsuki tripped.

Shizuru's free hand whipped out, catching Natsuki around the wrist inches before the biker's face met steel. Her cheeks flashed a variety of colors – alternating from a deathly pale, due to the steel wall's close proximity, before burning red, thanks to Shizuru's tight and surprisingly strong grasp on her limb – and, after taking several seconds to continue to hang in shock, weight being supported by the tea drinker's seemingly easy hold, she stumbled free from the saving grab, forcing herself to straighten and wipe disdainfully at her leathers. She kept her head down and eyes to the floor, refusing to make eye contact with the woman she was forced to grumble a low "Thanks" to.

As the traitorous elevator's doors began to slide close, Natsuki continued to squirm in the silence, feeling the red in her cheeks slowly diminish after her clumsy act went without having been commented on. She counted the _dings_ of the elevator as they passed floor after floor, legs itching to escape without a Fujino tease.

At the tenth floor, she slowly lifted her eyes, throwing a quick look to Shizuru before snapping it back down again. The business-suit clad woman stood there placidly, both hands wrapped around the handle of her briefcase, seemingly unaware of Natsuki's earlier near-tumble as she let crimson eyes rest upon the blinking numbers above the doors.

On floor seven, Natsuki cleared her throat with a small cough and a shuffle of her feet, eyes slipping to the side to look at her companion once more. Shizuru remained unmoving, her expression just as composed as before as she continued to watch the blinking numbers drop even lower.

By the second floor, Natsuki thought she was safe, though she couldn't scratch the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Her rational side pointed to the floor they were on and Shizuru's apparent indifference, demanding her logical side "man up" and hush her pulsating sense of paranoia. _I'm being crazy,_ she thought, ground-bound eyes slowly shifting once more, hoping to catch another reassuring glance of Shizuru ignoring her existence. _I'm being crazy, I'm being crazy, I'm being cra-… ack!_ Green slammed abruptly into red, Natsuki's eyes widening to an impossible size as she realized that Shizuru was staring directly at her, expression blank.

As the elevator shook to a gentle halt and slid its doors open, the number "one" blinking obnoxiously above their heads, Natsuki found that she couldn't move, couldn't shake herself free from the panicked stare that she'd locked with her too-calm employer.

"Ara, Natsuki, do not worry," the familiar voice spoke with the barest hint of restrained laughter. "She may look upon the savior of her beautiful face all she wants, and perhaps return the favor later."

With cheeks having burst into flaming wisps of red, very similar to Shizuru's residing mental visual of a "rose in bloom," Natsuki exploded from the elevator doors to half-sprint/half-power walk towards the building's exit.

A flustered "GOOD NIGHT, SHIZURU!" was heard, flung over the girl's shoulders, before the sound of a door clattering shut and tires burning rubber echoed back, reverberating off the well-glossed walls.

--

"Good night, Ishikawa-san."

"Good night, Fujino-sama!"

With a long sigh, Shizuru let the doors of her father's latest business venture draw to a hissing close behind her, reveling in the fact that it'd only taken her ten minutes of reviewing Morioka's reports for that morning with Ishikawa, the nighttime security guard, before she'd been able to escape the suddenly cold hardness of the skyscraper. Wistfully, she let her gaze trail towards the tread marks of burnt rubber that were marked so clearly on distant asphalt; Natsuki had certainly taken no time in marking her path along with illustrating her obvious discomfort towards her first day at work.

The older woman found it oddly enchanting, all the same.

With a renewing breath of air being taken in between relaxed lips, she turned her head expectantly, looking for the familiar sight of the black Jaguar and Sato, her chauffeur of several years, standing formally beside it. Upon realizing that the pair was nowhere to be seen, a soft line of worry creased over her brow. Of all the years that Sato had been employed under her and her father, he had never once been tardy.

Pausing, she inclined her head to look to her briefcase, a quick flip of one of the side straps revealing a small pocket that housed her mobile phone. Drawing it out, she saw the flash of green that indicated a voice mail. She flipped it out.

"_Shizuru, I apologize for the inconvenience," _her father's voice came out, calm and clear. _"Sato-san has experienced unforeseen complications with his health. To cover for him in his absence, I have hired on a replacement from a temp agency, Toyama-san. Please, let me know if you experience any difficulty. Though I've read only good things about both his demeanor and credentials, you know I worry."_

The message ended with a lingering beep.

Shizuru shook her head, finger moving to delete the saved voicemail. It seemed that Toyama-san, as pure as his intentions may have been, lacked a keen sense of time. Again, her fingers moved to dial another number, Shizuru having already decided that calling another driver for a one-time task would be sufficient, if only to get her away from the overpowering ambiance of professionalism and duty that resided at her back. She was just about to press the green "call" button when the familiar roar of an engine surprised her, her head pulling up quickly to set widened eyes upon the figure that raced dangerously around a curve before pulling into the parking lot, vehicle weaving as it avoided one speed bump after another.

Having pulled to a stop and dismounted, the figure noticed Shizuru and approached her hesitantly, not moving to remove the boldly colored helmet until the pair was only several feet apart.

"Natsuki," Shizuru greeted, masking her surprise under her teasing tone. "Back so soon?"

The blue-haired girl scoffed. "Stop making jokes," she shot back.

_Why is Shizuru still here? I thought she had some personal driver or something._ The image of a suited man opening the door for the Fujino flashed before her eyes, and she internally nodded at the confirmation. _In fact, I know she does. I wonder why she's still hanging around?_

Several blocks after Natsuki had made her escape, she had realized that she had forgotten the take-home paperwork that Shizuru had given her regarding emergency contacts and direct deposits for paychecks. With a curse under her breath and a roll to her eyes, she'd whipped her ride around – nearly causing two accidents in the process – and headed back, full speed, towards the building. What she didn't expect to find upon her return was Shizuru, looking a little lost and a little disoriented, standing in the middle of the parking lot with her briefcase still held formally in one hand. After she'd parked, she – with much resistance on her part – had approached the woman, unsure of what to say or take from the unexpected scene.

"What are you doing?" she finally blurted out, finally resorting to her usual bluntness.

"Ara, what does Natsuki mean?" Shizuru returned innocently, head taking on a light tilt. "Is one not permitted to enjoy the beauty of the night sk—"

"Oi, Shizuru," Natsuki interrupted, a scowl on her face and a look of avid determination in her eyes. "I'm being serious. Why are you still here?"

Shizuru, caught off guard by Natsuki's bold cut off of her words, hesitated before answering, voice losing its teasing lilt. "It seems as though my driver has experienced complications_,_" she replied, one arm moving to wrap around her own midsection with an almost defensive firmness, "and his replacement does not seem to exist."

Natsuki's eyes narrowed, her expression changing to one of conflicted thought. It was around 8:30PM, and already the night had taken its hold. Though guards were scattered at frequent intervals throughout the insides of the luxurious building, the outdoor security had less to be desired.

She couldn't fathom leaving the slender and fragile-looking girl there to wait for an unfamiliar driver that might, according to Natsuki's train of thought, take hours to arrive.

_I'm going to hate myself for this later._

Spinning on the heel of her boot, Natsuki took several purposeful strides towards her motorcycle before she, suddenly remembering her lack of speech, stopped, turning to throw a significant look over her shoulder.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

Shizuru, startled, paused for only a moment longer before she trailed after the dark-haired girl, her typically graceful and sauntering walk suddenly taking on an unsure quality. "Natsuki?" she called after the other girl, her once-composed expression cracking slightly, confusion showing through.

Having reached her bike, Natsuki hopped on, waiting until Shizuru finally reached her before she motioned once more. "Get on," she muttered darkly, one hand raising to offer the helmet to the older woman that stood beside her. "And wear this. As hard as your head is, it could probably use a little extra padding."

With one eyebrow lifted in mild amusement at Natsuki's sharp tongue, Shizuru put on the offered helmet before slipping onto the back of the bike, both hands moving to tentatively rest on Natsuki's sides.

"Hold on tight," the girl corrected her, grabbing both hands to readjust their placement before putting her own back onto the handlebars of her motorcycle. "And don't let go."

As Natsuki started her bike, revving the engine beneath the contrasting pair with a twist of her palms, Shizuru let a faint smile flicker over her lips as she tightened her hold around the girl's midsection.

_Don't worry. I won't._

_--_

**author's note: **Okay, okay. I'm lame. I promise I'll throw in some more significant conflict momentarily. I just needed to set the stage. ...but, forewarning: my version of conflict tends to be a bit more lighthearted than most. So, while it will BE there, it just won't be... "suicide on a stick" status. Maybe "frustration in a fruit bar" status! ...or something along those lines.

**NOTE: **Yes, Natsuki and Shizuru's work day was 8AM to 8PM, 12 hours. However, take away three hours for the split shift/lunch and one hour being paid overtime, and it all equals out. I'm sure that a full shift consists of a different number of hours in different countries, but - me being the work-obsessed all-American kid that I am - knows nothing about it. We're sticking with California rules 'til that changes.


	4. Rumor Mills and Video Games

**author's note:** Okay. Seriously, guys? It took me two hours to figure out how to get back into my account. Either way... I'm not dead, but will admit that life tends to block inspiration. It's doing such a good job of blocking things though, that suddenly, writing seems like an awesome way to escape that. Let's go!

**How May I Assist You?**

_rumor mills and video games_

The ride home was uneventful, if Natsuki ignored the fact that it felt like her chest was about to explode.

Wind whistled across the blur that was the Ducati, colors seeming to swirl in its wake as the machine hugged curves, screamed over straightaways, barreled through empty roadways – _like death has never been on the forefront of her thoughts,_ a fatigued Shizuru would later contemplate, not realizing until much later how true the consideration actually was.

If not for the continual warmth at her back, Natsuki would have typically considered the trip a gleeful one, it being mysteriously devoid of red lights that (when she was obeying traffic laws) put a pause on her joyrides. As it was, the realization that she rode with a girl who was her superior that she hardly knew – _hardly!_– was enough to somber her, the feeling being furthered by the gentle grasping of fingertips around her midsection. Those touches, though gentle, made each contact feel as though Shizuru's hands were consumed with flames, an association that Kuga attributed to her two day legacy of awkwardness while in Shizuru's presence.

When they finally arrived at the great house that Shizuru called home, Natsuki did her best to not gape at its size as she pulled to a gradual stop. Planting one booted foot firmly on the ground, she removed her helmet before shaking her head roughly, hair none too gently whipping across a startled Shizuru's face. Jerking in her seat as she realized that Shizuru still had yet to move from behind her, Natsuki looked over her shoulder, slightly jiggling it for emphasis.

"Hey, you can let go now."

"Ara… I apologize."

The red-eyed woman drew herself off and away from the motorcycle with a degree of grace that Natsuki could only fantasize about. Frowning a little as she watched her employer run lithe fingertips through helmet-mussed hair, Natsuki awkwardly pressed her thumb against her Ducati's throttle, itching to leave, but unsure of what to say. After a moment of silence, she opened her mouth, internally preparing herself for a sentence that was sure to further prove her lack of proficiency in social situations –

"Thank you, Natsuki. I truly appreciate you having ensured that I arrived at my home safely."

With an elegant and slight bow from the waist, Shizuru took her leave, the quiet clicks of her heels fading as she disappeared into the shadows that embraced her home. Natsuki, mouth still partially opened, remained where she stood.

Dark eyes flicked from the doorway up towards the second story windows that hovered above her before toppling back again, landing where the Fujino had once stood. The blunette then scoffed, forcing her mouth shut before starting her bike up again.

"What a weird day," she muttered to herself, shoving her helmet back on over mussed hair. "And what an even weirder woman…"

The bike roared to life and vanished into the black.

-x-

The next few weeks of work were just enough to make Natsuki feel like she was going to crack her molars at any moment. The work itself wasn't difficult, but came in droves on an hourly basis. If it wasn't the continual array of mundane tasks that was plaguing her, it was her employer – one particular _Fujino_– that was driving her insane. One moment, Shizuru would be nonchalant, professionally disregarding Natsuki's presence or innocently instructing her on a novel task. Then suddenly, she would be twirling a strand of Natsuki's hair around a fingertip, curling lips into a mischievous smirk far too close to the Kuga's ear, letting hot breaths trail up the edge—

"Natsuki! Are you serious?! You just died right now!"

"Wha-… oh, are you kidding me? He just ruined my killstreak!"

Mai thumped Natsuki hard on the shoulder with her controller before returning to her gameplay herself, audibly irate. If Natsuki's latest Call of Duty performance was any indication of her eventual success in life, then Mai would have to say that Natsuki was doomed to be a failure. As it was, the blue-haired girl that usually dominated a game that Mai often played horribly at was suddenly proving herself to be inadequate.

Two minutes later, the match ended, the room filling with a flurry of Natsuki's cursing as Mai carefully placed her controller on the coffee table before her, turning to glance at her friend. It wasn't long until Natsuki noticed Mai's stare and, scowling, returned it.

"What?" she snapped.

"There's something wrong with you," Mai spoke decisively, her stare unwavering. "I can tell. Normally you wipe the floor with all of these guys that come onto this game and just talk smack about your really high kick-butt ratio…"

Natsuki interjected: "Kill/death ratio…"

"…whatever, right, that thing. But today, you're just flopping around like you've never played it before, and suddenly I'm having to remind you when you need to hit that button to respawn. So, spill it. What's going on?"

The girl sighed, putting her controller down before dragging her body off of the couch. She had a feeling that Mai wasn't going to let this issue go, and she suddenly felt the need to drink.

"I'm serious, Natsuki," Mai called from the couch, reaching forward to switch the television from gameplay to regular cable. "I know when something's up with you, and it takes something pretty weird to mess up your Call of Duty mojo. And since I know you're about to get a drink, will you bring me one too?"

"I don't have any of that frilly girl crap that you like."

"Beer's fine, just put a piece of fruit in it or something."

Grumbling, Natsuki complied, coming out of her kitchen with two drinks, one of which was already halfway empty. Handing Mai hers, she finished another fourth of her drink with a single gulp, glanced at her bottle's contents, and stood again.

"Yet another indicator of there being a problem…"

"Shut it! I'm dehydrated!"

"Then you should probably be drinking water."

After two and a half more beers, Natsuki finally tired of trying to dodge Mai's constant badgering, a technique that Tokiha had learned to employ when she figured out that it only took about 30 minutes of her nagging before the Kuga would give in. With a sigh of defeat, Natsuki plopped her nearly empty bottle on the coffee table before her, her feet dragging up to accompany the empty bottles on its surface.

"It's… my boss," she started, hesitantly. Fortunately for Natsuki, she didn't notice the sudden knowing gleam lighting Mai's eyes. "She's… different. I never know what to expect. In every other job I've held, it's… you know, easy. Come in, do my job, get out. But, there's something different."

Taking a slow sip from her drink, Mai motioned lazily for Natsuki to continue.

"She… she follows me around, kind of. And if she's not following me around, she's ignoring me, which is fine, but then, she'll pop up, and she'll do something weird. And she drinks tea all the time, and she has this accent, and she says these things, and does these things…"

"Such as?"

Taking a deep breath, Natsuki spared a quick glance for her friend before she continued. Mai, realizing that Natsuki was looking for any excuse to stop explaining herself, kept her expression blank.

"She… okay. Yesterday? She asked me to change a light bulb. Not in my job description, but, whatever. So I did, and when I'm standing on some ladder, trying to get this damn thing in, she's holding my sides, saying some crap about not wanting me to fall."

Mai muffled a snort.

"Then, the day before that, I spent forever filing away some junk on new personnel, and she comes up behind me, says I look tense, and starts massaging my neck—I ask her what the hell she's doing, and she tells me some crap about employee-employer relations, and about how a good work environment is 'serene,' and how massages promote relaxation…"

As Natsuki flung her fingers up into air quotations, Mai – still trying to choke down the laughter from before – suddenly found the task impossible, and burst into what could only be described as hysterical giggling.

"What the hell, Mai!" Natsuki snapped, her hands freezing mid-air quotes as her face flushed red.

Still laughing, Mai began to wave both hands in front of her, falling back into her seat. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just…" Giggling again, the red-haired girl dragged in a slow breath, trying to compose herself as she grinned. "I'm sorry, really. It's just… I can't say I'm surprised."

Suddenly suspicious, Natsuki let her hands flop into her lap as she turned fully to face her friend. "What do you mean, you're not surprised? Are you holding out on me, Tokiha?"

Still grinning, Mai turned and shuffled through her purse before emerging with a well-read and rolled up gossip magazine, tossing it onto Natsuki's lap. The magazine flopped open to expose its cover, its headline in bright yellow font: "Fujino Executive – 'Playboy' Heartbreaker?"

"…TOKIHA!"

Outside, Natsuki's neighbor cracked open his door, shot a glance around the street, went back in. Sometimes, he couldn't tell if people outside were screaming, or if it was just another dog that had gotten loose.

-x-

When Natsuki stormed into work the next morning, she couldn't get the images out of her head. They had been plastered all over a cover story posted by one of Mai's stupid magazines – pictures of Shizuru in a bikini, frolicking on the beach with some random horde of people; Shizuru at some VIP-party, leaning in close to some random model's ear, a small smirk playing over her lips; there was even one of her at some corporate coffee shop, smiling and resting her hand on some different woman's forearm. What made the pictures even more difficult to forget were the quotations published by the magazine, apparently from various anonymous sources.

"_She broke my heart,"_ one said. _"I thought she loved me, but then she stopped calling."_

"_I thought I was so lucky, getting to date someone to respected and successful, but then she disappeared."_

"_She's so beautiful!"_another spouted. _"Why, I'd flip for her any day, if I wasn't married."_

Of course, the last one was (reportedly) by some A-list celebrity… but that was beside the point.

Natsuki was, quite possibly, working for one of the most notorious womanizers in the business world.

Of course, there really was no proof. No media existed that showed Shizuru actually engaging in anything truly romantic other than fleeting touches on the arm, words spoken in slightly closer proximity than necessary. All the gossip magazines had were pages upon pages of so-called personal accounts regarding past experiences with Shizuru, all made by women that refused to give their names. While the gossip magazines had plenty to say about the Fujino executive, the legitimate news publishers had managed to stay mum.

"It's not for sure," Mai had told her the night before, accenting the casual statement with a small shrug. "People start rumors all the time, and the more crazy it is, the more people like to talk about it. But…" The red-haired girl suddenly took on a mischievous grin, one eyebrow arching at her friend. "I will say that these stories about your Shizuru have gotten oddly detailed, and tend to involve beautiful women."

Natsuki's only response? "She's not _my_Shizuru," she had growled, and that was that.

_That was that,_ Natsuki reminded herself as she stood in the elevator, approaching the highest floor of the building. _That was that. It's nothing. It's just gossip, it's just rumors…_

When she arrived, she was greeted with Shizuru in a low-cut red suit, skirt slung so tight that it left little to the imagination.

"My Natsuki has arrived," she spoke lowly, voice filled with _something_ that was just enough to make the Kuga stumble and trip headfirst into a nearby potted plant. "Though you seem to have a greater affinity for my plant than you do for me, I can still say that your beauty has left me breathless."

_Just rumors… riiiiight._

-x-

**author's note:** Okay, okay. Not a ton of interaction there, sorry - one, trying to ease back in, and two... trying to avoid rushing it. Build up is good, right? (Maybe not the multiple year build up I've had going... but that's a different story.) Thanks for sticking around, if you're still reading this! I have appreciated all of the reviews!

...also, on a side note. Am I technologically awkward, or is there any particular reason why the double-dash line-breaks I used to use are no longer allowed when I play with this on doc manager...? I wouldn't be surprised if I'm just incapable of working this efficiently on short notice. I have no patience and don't like looking at help sections.


	5. Bonding Over Noodle Soup

**author's note: **Hi. My goal is to make myself write for this as much as possible on my days off, then try to cautiously tackle it in pieces on workdays. Why are the chapters so short, you ask?... because I have a limited attention span! I apologize, I really do. I understand the frustration, but I figure it's better to get it out in pieces and hold myself accountable for updates rather than to justify me not posting on short chapter length... right? Hopefully, I'll hit a huge batch of inspiration and will get out something of more substantial length in a bit.

**How May I Assist You?**

****_bonding over noodle soup_

Working with Shizuru was becoming more difficult by the second.

At first, the problem was the endless teasing – sly comments, made with so-called innocence, and the not very occasional touches that were enough to make the Kuga jump (or, in extreme circumstances, yelp). These were all enough to give Natsuki tireless headaches from the extent of tension constantly held in her shoulders, but were not enough to prepare her for what was to come.

It gradually got worse, in a way she didn't know how to explain to anyone, not even Mai. Shizuru's voice began to take on a quality that made her blush furiously, even if the statement itself was devoid of flirtation. She began to wear clothing that made the blunette feel like a walking symbol of awkwardness, the girl repeatedly running face first into walls after locking eyes with what she would internally decry as "way too much skin, what the hell is going on here!"

Everything finally hit a head on a quiet Thursday, when Shizuru strolled out of her office and past Natsuki's desk, pulling her own shirt up and over her head in the process. Natsuki flailed in her seat, flipped her chair, and landed in yet another plant.

When Shizuru returned minutes later (wearing a completely different shirt than what she had on that morning), she arched an eyebrow at her red-faced assistant, who was scowling as she plucked leaves from out of her hair.

"I spilled tea on my shirt," she explained placidly, continuing into her office. "I do hope Natsuki will disregard my clumsiness."

The image of a shirtless Shizuru in a far too lacy bra was burned into Natsuki's brain.

-x-

Two hours later, Natsuki found herself trailing helplessly after the woman that had managed to plague her thoughts with inappropriate outerwear and awkward social situations. The day had been long, filled with an extraordinary amount of paperwork and – for Shizuru – back to back meetings with various correspondents, leaving both women feeling drained. By the time 8PM had rolled around, Natsuki felt like she had been repeatedly struck in the head with a brick, rapidly followed by a chorus of toddler-filled school buses. Even though Shizuru had said nothing about her own exhaustion, the bluenette had her suspicions that the crimson-eyed women likely felt the same.

_It's in her eyes,_ she mused to herself, her own green ones flicking over the Fujino's face. _Normally they have some weird glow going on, but right now they look… dull._

It was this somewhat startling realization – that the Fujino, a woman composed entirely of slow smiles, placid expressions, and a never-ending aura of power, control, and a vicious business sense – this realization that, somehow, Shizuru was human and capable of experiencing severe fatigue, that led Natsuki to open her mouth and blurt out a single sentence that she would instantly regret, seconds later.

"Wouldyouliketogetdinnerwithm e?!"

If Natsuki had said it any more quickly, she was sure her tongue would have gone up in flames and fallen off.

Shizuru had turned to her, a somewhat curious look moving fleetingly over darkened eyes before they were settled back into their usual self-assured stare, her lips curling upwards at the edges. As Natsuki stood stock-still, wondering what sort of insanity had overtaken her thoughts that would make her ask her superior out for what was bound to be an awkward meal, the Fujino gradually nodded.

"I would love to accompany Natsuki to dinner," she spoke softly, the smile still in place. "As the invite was so generous, please allow me to provide the transportation for the evening."

The motorcyclist heard the metaphorical cell doors slam shut and lock into place.

Five minutes later and she was in the back of Shizuru's chauffeur's car – Toyama-san's car, to be exact, who apparently did exist, regardless of his lack of appearance on Natsuki's first night of work – plucking idly at the imaginary lint that rested on her suit's sleeve. She viciously tried to ignore the amused stare that she just _knew_ Shizuru was throwing her way, a look that led her to be even more fidgety, moving from so-called spots of lint to presumed creases and escaped strands of hair. It was only after she had endured the staring for what felt like an hour (two minutes) that Natsuki, exasperated, felt her mouth jerking open without her permission again.

"What are you looking at?"

Shizuru tilted her head, calmly sipping her tea as she considered Natsuki's expression. "I am looking at Natsuki," she spoke, gently. "Ara, was I not making it obvious?"

"N-no… I mean, yes! Stop that."

Shizuru hid a smile behind a delicate hand. "But Natsuki's features are so delightful, it would be a shame not to partake in the vision of beauty that they provide."

Flustered, Natsuki resisted the urge to curl her suit jacket up and over her head to cover her growing blush. "B-but… you… it's making me…"

Shizuru arched an eyebrow, placing her tea into the cup holder at her side.

"…it's making me-…" Another flash of Shizuru wandering by, shirt pulling up over her head, honey-colored tresses cascading down to barely cover the flush skin beneath—"Never mind! Where are we going, anyway?"

"Lindem Baum," Shizuru replied, smiling slightly as she leaned forward, peering out the window before glancing back at her assistant. "I do hope that Natsuki will forgive the selection if she deems it undesirable, but they are renowned for their dishes."

As they pulled up to the curb that stood in front of the restaurant, Natsuki swallowed a gulp before opening her door and trudging outside. After everything she had told her orange-haired friend about her boss, she certainly hoped that Mai – a long-time employee of Lindem Baum – could keep her mouth shut when they both walked in the door.

-x-

"Thank you for coming! Please come again!"

Ruffling her own hair, Mai hummed to herself as she settled back behind the register by the door, idly counting through its contents. There were only a couple hours left to her shift, and the thought of getting home to her own dinner was becoming more realistic by the second. If only things picked up so that the time could go by faster…

"Ara, is Natsuki frightened of the door?"

Mai's head shot up as a familiar scowl filled the entryway before her, in addition to another familiar face… if she counted people that she had only seen at great distances and on magazine covers. The Fujino heir stood with her back to the front counter, bemusedly regarding a grumbling Natsuki that reluctantly slouched into the restaurant. Mai couldn't help the small smirk that played at her lips as her look bounced from Shizuru to her friend of several years; if she wasn't mistaken, it looked like Shizuru had done even more work on Natsuki's nerves since she had spoken to Kuga last.

_Like a puppy trying to face down a tsunami,_ she chuckled inwardly, replacing her smirk with a polite smile as Shizuru turned to face her.

"Two, please," the woman spoke, Mai instantly picking up on the Kyoto accent as she plucked up two menus for the pair. As she opened her mouth to reply, her eyes flickered over to Natsuki, who was shaking her head frantically. Hesitating, Mai forced a smile, her eyes returning to those of Shizuru.

"Please, sit anywhere you would like."

As Shizuru nodded and walked towards a table situated near the furthest windows, Natsuki hung back, grabbing Mai by the arm before she could trail after the executive.

"Mai! Don't tell her you know me."

"What? Why? That doesn't even make sense!"

"Just. Bear with me," the blunette ground out between grit teeth. "You don't know what kind of crap this woman is capable of."

Keeping her expression neutral, Mai shrugged as she started forward, grabbing two tea cups along the way. "Considering that you're here for a late-night date with her, I guess you'd be the expert on that."

Mai couldn't help but grin at the familiar sound of a sputtered snort/outraged yelp/muffled grumbling behind her.

As Natsuki slid grudgingly into her seat in front of Shizuru, Mai placed the menus before them, quickly rattling off the latest specials before making her escape. Left at the table with no outside distractions, Natsuki wasn't sure if she was relieved or even more nervous, the threat of Mai exposing Natsuki's constant paranoia of Shizuru suddenly seeming less scary than being left with Shizuru alone.

_Why am I alone with her, anyway?_ Frowning at her menu, she flicked through the pages without fully reading any of the words left before her. _I mean… she had a long day… why am I trying to fix that by asking her to grab food with me?_

The rational part of Natsuki's brain told her that food (specifically, food covered in mayonnaise) was the answer to all of life's problems. Unfortunately, the less rational side had a difficult time accepting that.

Looking up at her dinner companion, Natsuki couldn't help but let her eyes wander over the woman's features, taking advantage of the one moment when she wasn't being examined herself. She never had actually been in a position in which she had to appraise another female's looks, and the entire process – though it should have felt awkward – came naturally, with Shuzuru, anyway. In the back of her thoughts, Natsuki suddenly realized that Shizuru was beautiful, in a sort of haunting, distant way. Her eyes were like pools of blood, and she couldn't tell if they were terrifying or mesmerizing.

"Has Natsuki found something she likes?"

Shizuru's teasing voice broke through Natsuki's reverie. Realizing she'd been caught, the motorcyclist winced before snapping her menu closed.

"Yeah, Mai already knows what I like."

Shizuru's eyebrow arched. "Mai?"

As Natsuki took on a deer-in-headlights expression, Mai chose the perfect moment to return, quickly taking the orders of both women before departing again. As the orange-haired woman strolled away, Shizuru once again settled a considering look onto Natsuki's wide-eyed stare.

"Tell me about yourself," Natsuki blurted out, hoping to distract the honey-haired woman from her slip of the tongue. "When did you start doing work for Fujino Corp.?"

"So Natsuki is curious about my past," Shizuru mused, enjoying the look of relief and embarrassment that flashed over her companion's features. "I feel as though I ought to say I have been working for my family's enterprise all of my life. My father ensured that I was studious in my youth, and did not falter when the opportunity arose for me to gain experience in various business endeavors."

"All your life?" Natsuki glanced at her empty tea cup and shrugged, pouring first Shizuru and then herself a glass. "You mean, after you ran around and were a kid for a while…"

Smiling softly, Shizuru shook her head as she wrapped her fingertips around the steaming cup before her. "Thank you. And… no. Prior to my birth, my expectations as determined by my family had already been established. I have had little time for much else, and as such, the acceleration of my skills as a business woman and potential heir to the Fujino empire have been deemed acceptable thus far."

Natsuki looked up, briefly locking eyes with the honey-haired woman before looking away, her brow creased. Images of a younger Shizuru, pouring over piles of texts in a darkened study as children yelped outside, filled her thoughts. She had difficulty imagining what it would be like, spending your entire life preparing yourself for your adulthood, leaving no time for the things that made the idea of _responsibility_ bearable. Suddenly, the idea of Shizuru's childhood left her feeling bleak.

Shooing the somber thoughts away, Natsuki grumbled quietly into the corner of her tea cup. "Did your family intend for you to be called a 'playboy,' too?"

Shizuru's eyes flashed with mirth. "Ara, Natsuki, I heard that," she chided, gently. "And, no. I suppose that would be something that came about due to some… unforeseen circumstances."

Only a little embarrassed at being caught, Natsuki couldn't help but question further, her inquisitiveness getting the better of her. "Like… what," she deadpanned, trying to ignore the warmth that spread across her cheeks. "I don't see how someone could mistakenly refer to someone as a… a…"

"'Playboy Heartbreaker,' depending on what Natsuki likes to read in her spare time. I will just say that my life has presented me with a variety of opportunities, and I have indulged in but a few."

With that statement, Shizuru resumed drinking her tea, a calm and almost blissful expression slipping over her face. Natsuki, resting green eyes on the woman, decided that the conversation about that particular subject matter was (fortunately) over.

After Mai arrived and deposited two bowls of soup, the women converged on the food for several minutes in partial silence, excluding Natsuki's slurps. It was during one such slurp that Shizuru had spoken up again, voice low and breeching on the edges of sly mischief.

"If Natsuki is so curious about my apparent 'playboy' lifestyle, perhaps she ought to investigate," she pondered, as Natsuki blanched. "I would be happy to indulge Natsuki's… curiosity."

It was at that moment that Natsuki choked down a too large bite of noodles and burned her tongue, effectively distracting both herself and an eavesdropping Mai from Shizuru's proposition.

-x-

When Shizuru got home later that night, she realized that things were bound to get difficult, again.

Dropping her briefcase onto the polished wood cabinet that stood directly past her entryway, she sighed, stretching her arms back and over her head. The lights in the hallway flickered on as she passed them, touching switches one by one, casting a rosy glow over the luxurious interior. Shrugging to herself, she kicked off her heels before gracefully falling into the leather seat that overlooked the shuttered windows, offering a generous view of her spacious backyard, dimly lit by faux torches and underwater fountain lamps. Normally Shizuru accompanied such sights with a good book and a cup of tea, but she couldn't feel bothered to rustle up either at the moment.

Her Natsuki was proving to be interesting, indeed.

It wasn't rare for Shizuru to become intrigued by a woman with astounding looks; the past years had been good to her, granting her an endless cycle of opportunities that she took or ignored at will. She had viewed women as yet another disposable staple to her high-flying lifestyle, and had embraced the moments that came with them as she would embrace a weekend at an executive retreat: mild appreciation overridden by indifference. They had been beautiful conquests, ones she would tire of after a few chance meetings in which she was able to exert her prowess before slipping away. Meetings that, if she hadn't been careful, could have easily tarnished her reputation.

Fortunately for the Fujinos, Shizuru was discrete, only allowing the public to discover definitive evidence of possible companionship, but nothing that went beyond casual interaction.

It had been easier then, filling the brief moments of boredom with a model of beauty and femininity before callously tossing it away. It did not require effort, nor did it drag on her conscience and sense of goodwill. Shizuru had made it a point to not get attached, and the task had proven itself easy. It wasn't until several weeks ago that she felt that the concept was becoming somewhat difficult.

Natsuki was a beautiful specimen, she had recognized that instantly. The blue-black hair was striking against her perfect complexion; her emerald eyes shone out like impassioned beacons against the black. But what was even more stunning was the underlying sense of power that burned beneath her surface. Natsuki was a force to be reckoned with, even for a Fujino, and Shizuru found herself drawn to her like a moth to the flame.

In the face of that explicit strength also came the signs of humanity that were enough to make Shizuru's breath catch a little at each startled look that she sparked in Natsuki's hard-eyed stare. Each Kuga blush left her feeling a little bit giddy, every stuttering retort memorized away with a growing sense of affection. It was becoming dangerous, Shizuru's growing infatuation with her assistant, and she was beginning to wonder if her ability to maintain distance was becoming frayed.

As she reclined in her seat and looked at the ceiling, she felt herself making a decision, one that she hoped she wouldn't regret several months down the road.

If Shizuru was going to long after Natsuki with this degree of intensity, she was going to make sure that her Natsuki _wanted_ her, too.

-x-

**author's note:** I know! Verbal build-up, but not quite pushing that ShizNat yet, I know. Don't worry, it's coming. I'm trying to get a proper build-up going, without making this one of those "instant gratification, McDonalds instead of high-end cuisine" fics (funny reference because actually, I love McDonalds and I sometimes totally crave those quickie fics, but trying to do something else here, really!). I'm going to aim to hit a few more satisfying points with the next chapter, depending on how well I follow my outline. But, for sticking with me this far... I commend and applaud you. Thanks again for the reviews; I adore them, and they definitely encourage me to hurry up with updates!


	6. Discovering Jealousy

**author's note:** Quick updates? Sure, why not!

**How May I Assist You?**

_discovering jealousy_

Natsuki was beginning to wonder if her dinner invitation from several nights ago was the reason why she felt as though she was being slowly led to her death.

Ever since the faithful evening at Lindem Baum, Shizuru had managed to come up with a multitude of excuses to bring Natsuki with her outside of the office. At first, it was simple things – Natsuki meeting Shizuru at off-property meetings to bring her random documents, cups of tea, fresh coats picked up from the dry cleaners – to… less simple things.

Natsuki still couldn't understand why Shizuru needed her to accompany her to gym, out of all places.

"Why am I here again?" the blunette growled under her breath, shooting a haphazard look around the room.

Shizuru, clad in remarkably tight-fitting yoga pants and a barely there sports bra, maintained her serene smile as she joggled calmly on her treadmill.

"In case an emergency takes place, in case Natsuki is direly needed… Natsuki must remain close to me at all times, of course."

"So why am I wearing…" Natsuki gestured at herself frantically, flapping her hand from head to toe, "…this?!"

Shizuru, cocking an eyebrow as she glanced down at her assistant, could barely hide the look of glee that threatened to erupt over her face. Somehow, she had convinced Natsuki that it was pertinent that she come in the least amount of clothing, something about it being necessary to emphasize a healthy exercising lifestyle while simultaneously promoting some athletic company that had sponsored Fujino Corp. in its youth (startling enough, the last bit was true, but was still a stretch). The end result was a displeased Kuga in booty shorts and a sports bra, while also wearing a very deep scowl, one that was accompanied by a warning growl any time a passerby happened to gawp at her outfit for too long.

"I have already advised Natsuki," Shizuru countered, breaths coming evenly as she neared her twenty minute mark on her machine. "Does my dear Natsuki doubt my good intentions?"

"N-no! That's not what-…" Heaving a sigh, Natsuki waved her head in defeat. "You know what, never mind. I'm going to go lift some weights or something."

Excusing herself, the blunette trotted off towards a distant weight room that was littered with discarded protein shakes and used towels.

Watching her companion depart, Shizuru let a small smile slip onto her lips. The past few days of "Operation Seduce-Kuga" had been slow, but seemed somewhat successful. Shizuru had realized more with every passing day just how different Natsuki was from all of the other women she had approached, and with each new realization, she treasured the girl further. Natsuki did not fall all over her feet to get her attention; instead, the blue-haired girl did everything in her power to keep to herself and to avoid catching Shizuru's gaze. Natsuki did not bow and scrape over every single statement Shizuru uttered; if she felt so inclined, she'd snap a snarky remark at the executive, or blurt her name out in stuttered warning. With these thoughts in mind, Shizuru suddenly found herself employing techniques that she had never had to use in such excessive volume or intensity, all in the name of getting Natsuki to possibly break a little bit further out of her shell.

The changes in her wardrobe from conservative elegance to striking sexuality had been something she'd played with before; now she brought it out in full force when in Natsuki's presence. If Natsuki's wide-eyed stares every time she entered in the morning were any indication of Shizuru's success, then she felt that she was surpassing expectations. The intentional lowered tones of Shizuru's voice – borderline raspy, simply dripping with a mixture of seduction and barely contained desire – seemed to be working out fairly decently as well. Every once in a while, when Shizuru would manage to get in the perfect mixture of innuendo and sly vocalizations, she'd see Natsuki wince, shiver, then nearly scramble away.

_Like a feral wolf pup, frightened by the unfamiliar shadow, but refusing to truly falter,_ Shizuru hummed to herself, unaware that Mai had often made a similar (albeit less poetic) comparison in regards to her blue-haired friend.

Glancing down at her machine, Shizuru realized that she had run well over her needed twenty minutes of cool-down cardio, stretching her final exercise into a full thirty-five minutes. Tapping the "stop" button, she hopped off the machine and grabbed her towel, gently dabbing at her forehead before slinging it around her neck. Walking out of the maze of ellipticals and cardio bikes, she tossed a casual look towards the weight room, before abruptly stopping in her tracks.

If Natsuki had already shown her two sides of beauty in her motorcyclist outfit and her work suits, this was a third side that Shizuru realized she could rapidly come to sensually appreciate.

The blue-haired woman strained with a full bar of weights on an incline bench press, sweat rolling down from her forehead to pool at the dip created by skin and clavicle. With each pump of the bar, Shizuru could see the force being exerted by the young woman, replicated in the striking contours of her chest, the toned musculature highlighting each of her biceps. What made it even better was the wide-stanced footing the woman needed to support herself; Shizuru allowed her eyes to travel up each of Natsuki's toned legs, savoring the rarely observed sight.

_Of course my Natsuki would have a beautiful body to match her beautiful face. How could I have considered otherwise?_

After several minutes of admiring Natsuki in silence, Shizuru began to notice that others had taken to doing the same. Her brow furrowing slightly, she reluctantly pulled her gaze away from Natsuki's sweating form to rest upon a group that had gathered near the free weights in the weight room. She wasn't particularly surprised at the number of males in there – they did seem to congregate at this time of day – but she wasn't thrilled by the lack of exercise that was taking place and the significant amount of staring that did, instead.

Shizuru suddenly realized that, to her surprise, she was feeling the oncoming rise of possessiveness.

The other women she had flirted and been with had been brief, and when they had engaged in other ventures that they had told her of, she had encouraged them. Whether they remained single or loved another was of no difference to her, and she made it remarkably clear that her interests – while somewhat impassioned – often expired, very rapidly. She had certainly experienced no feelings of jealousy while seeing them; possessiveness was, therefore, unheard of. And so, the buzzing bead of anger that presently rolled at the back of her thoughts… Shizuru wasn't quite sure how to address it.

As Natsuki stood up from her latest set and began to pull the weights from the bench press' bar, one of the males approached, going to pull at the second set of weights as he began to speak to her. Natsuki seemed startled a bit before somewhat relaxing, a line of tension remaining in her back as she replied to the man standing before her. He laughed, said something else; Natsuki's face remained blank.

Before realizing what she was doing, Shizuru found herself propelling forward through the weight room's doors, quickly appearing behind a distracted Natsuki as the blue-haired woman stared blankly at the enthused man that had yet to stop talking.

"Anyway, you're in great shape. Maybe we can get lunch sometime? Maybe trade ideas on ideal calorie intakes…"

"Ara, Natsuki," Shizuru chided, suddenly wrapping lithe arms around Natsuki's shoulders as she rested her lips next to the blunette's hair. "Have you forgotten me already? Did I not articulate an adequate time for our lunch date?" Heated breath tickled over Natsuki's ear as Shizuru let her lips drift closer, nearly brushing over the curved edge.

Startled, Natsuki jerked in place before forcing herself to stand still and not flee, narrowed eyes shooting to the side to stare at Shizuru as chills ran up her arms. As she opened her mouth to utter out a dark reply, she was interrupted by the man before her, instead.

"Oh, ah… wow, I'm sorry," he stuttered, backing up a few steps before going to turn back towards his friends. "Have a nice work out, ladies. Geez… my gaydar sucks!"

Halted mid-scathing remark, Natsuki's mouth dropped open in disbelief as Shizuru giggled, squeezing her arms even more tightly around her assistant's frame.

"Shizuru, what the hell!" Natsuki snapped, suddenly flailing as she tried to pull out of Shizuru's grasp. "Now he thinks that I'm… that you're… that we're… ugh!"

Releasing the woman, Shizuru smiled sweetly as she exited the weight room, Natsuki following grudgingly and obediently behind. "I haven't any idea what Natsuki is referring to," she replied evenly as she walked towards the gym's exit. "Perhaps Natsuki will explain it to me, on our lunch date?"

"Oi, Shizuru! I never said it was a _date!_"

"Ara…"

-x-

Sunday night was, by all accounts, Mai's "specialty cooking night," which really meant "night for Natsuki to eat something other than instant ramen or delivery." It was always spent at Mai's house (as she would always announce that the food would taste better if she cooked it in her own pans) and almost always started early in the afternoon and ended right before eleven.

This particular night found Natsuki slouched on Mai's dining table, surrounded by a mixture of empty plates and half-drained bottles before the clock had a chance to strike nine.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Mai!" Natsuki drawled out in a slur.

Mai could only grumble back: "You could probably start by stopping your drinking."

"I'm serious!" Heaving herself upwards from her chair, Natsuki staggered towards the couch as Mai scrambled for the bottles that teetered precariously on the table's surface after Natsuki's abrupt departure. Steadying them as Natsuki flopped down onto her seat, Mai shot a glare over her shoulder, the look only softening when she saw the look of borderline despair on her friend's face.

"Oh, come on now," she clucked, turning away from the mess of bottles to walk to her friend, gently patting Natsuki on the shoulder. "It can't be that bad, now can it?"

"Just try working with her for one day, Mai," Natsuki mumbled, hugging her knees to her chest. "You have no idea just how bad it is."

Frowning, Mai walked around her friend to perch on the opposite arm of the couch, folding one leg against her chest. "What's the big deal, anyway? I know she flirts with you, but how horrible can it be?"

"She…" Natsuki took in a deep breath before she barreled forward. "She comes into work wearing barely anything. It's like she might as well be naked! She talks to me in this weird voice… I feel like I should call it pillow talk, but it's not. And last week, some guy ended up thinking she was my girlfriend, and now the whole gym that she goes to thinks we're dating."

Mai pursed her lips, shot a glance at Natsuki, and said nothing.

"It's just…" Natsuki ruffled a hand through her hair, sighing out her frustration. "She makes me feel weird, Mai…"

"…maybe you're attracted to her."

The room went silent, before: "WHAT?!"

"Maybe you're attracted to her," Mai repeated easily, ignoring the look of panic and horror that flew over Natsuki's face. "It's not a big deal, Natsuki. Plenty of women have commented on how gorgeous she is. And if she's showering you with all of this attention, who could blame you?"

"Maybe I'm-… no, absolutely not. NO. That is NOT possible. Mai, if you've got something to say, make sure it's SMART," Natsuki blurted out, before suddenly turning pale and jolting up in her seat. "I-… I think I'm going to…" Jerking off of the couch, the blue-haired woman bolted for the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Mai, shaking her head, yelled after her friend. "Tylenol in the cabinet, Gatorade in the 'fridge!"

_Told her she should have stopped drinking over an hour ago._

-x-

When Natsuki woke up the next morning on Mai's couch, she felt like her head was going to explode.

"Here," Mai gestured at her with a cup of coffee, face appearing in front of Natsuki's blurry eyes as they fluttered open.

"It's way too early for this crap, Mai," Natsuki groaned under her breath, reaching one hand out to wrap around the mug and take a healthy sip.

"It's actually six, and you managed to pass out by ten-thirty, so you got a decent amount of sleep," Mai reasoned. "I would have let you sleep longer, but I wanted to give you enough time to get ready for work."

"For work-…? Oh, shi-…!" Natsuki bolted forward, nearly dropping her cup of coffee as she got tangled in the couch's blankets and crashed with a resounding thump to the floor. "Crap!"

Mai, who had smartly stepped back prior to reminding Natsuki about her work duties, appraised her friend with a raised eyebrow. "You can relax, you know. It's not like your house is far from here, and it never takes you long to get ready. I just wanted to make sure your rear was in gear before I booted you to confront your latest crush."

As Natsuki struggled to untangle herself from the web of blankets around her legs, she shot a glare up at Mai, both eyes narrowed. "Mai, that is complete bullshit."

"No, hear me out, Natsuki." Settling into a cross-legged position in a nearby chair, Mai began to tick off her fingertips. "One, you've had a ton of boyfriends, but you've never given a crap about any one of them."

"Probably because they were all wussies…"

"…don't interrupt. Two, you had a _huge_ fan club in high school, whether you want to admit it or not, and almost all of them were girls. Girls tend to like girls that probably like other girls, you get what I'm saying?"

Natsuki, finally freed of her blanket prison, deadpanned. "No."

"…well, you don't need to get it for it to be true. And three… Magic Mike is out on DVD, and you haven't even asked me if I bought it and when we're watching it! So, yes. I think you like girls, and I think Shizuru is the most recent one you've been interested in."

"Mai, that is the stupidest shit I have ever heard in my entire life."

"Don't be mad just 'cause I'm totally rocking you with reason! Anyway, we better wrap this up. You're already down ten minutes in how much time you have available to get yourself to work on time."

The panic began anew. "Crap, crap… work!"

-x-

When Natsuki arrived to work later that morning – ten minutes before 8AM, she was proud to note – she was somewhat confused by an unfamiliar car that was parked on the curb directly in front of the entrance.

Walking by it, she stopped to shoot a glance at its license plate – it didn't have anything revealing, so that didn't help her much – it appeared unmarked, though she could tell by its lack of distinction that it was a company car, though not one that belonged to the Fujinos.

"Oi, Morioka-san," Natsuki called to the day shift security guard as she entered the first story lobby of the building. The man's head jerked up, nodding at the blunette.

"Good morning, Kuga-san," he responded with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"What's that car about?" Natsuki gestured with her helmet at the car that remained outside, just past the front double-doors.

"Oh…" Morioka chuckled a little bit nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I know cars aren't supposed to park there, but it belongs to some other big-wig that's trying to work a deal with the Fujinos, and I haven't the heart to tell his driver to park in the normal-people parking spaces."

"Oh. Got it." Shrugging a bit, Natsuki waved goodbye to the guard before entering the elevator lobby. Stepping into one of the elevator shafts, she bounced nervously in place as she stared at the numbers lighting above her head.

She didn't remember Shizuru saying anything about coming in early, and she definitely hoped that her presence wasn't expected until sometime after 8AM. What with needing the time to get to the top floor and change, she wasn't going to be ready to deal with anything until five after eight. Though she highly doubted that Shizuru would consider terminating her over something so minimal, she definitely knew – what with the current state of her hangover – that she wasn't in the mood for any sort of reprimand.

Natsuki stopped her nervous jig when she reached the top floor, and the elevator door slid open.

"I do appreciate the time you have taken to meet with me, Kanzaki-san," an older gentleman spoke as he walked out of Shizuru's office, another suited man trailing behind him. "I do believe that Shizuru will ultimately appreciate our decision."

"Of course, Fujino-sama," the young man nodded, inclining his head. "After all, such a marriage would benefit us all."

Natsuki, halfway to the restroom down an opposing hall, froze in her tracks. Head turning slightly, she felt her eyes widening as if they were about to burst.

…_marriage?!_

-x-

Freed from her bike leathers and helmet, Natsuki barreled down the hallway, coming to an abrupt and frustrated seat at her desk. She wasn't sure why, but her mind felt like it was racing in all the wrong directions. The heat that radiated up her cheeks and down the back of her neck wasn't for the usual reasons of her work-day discoloration; instead, she felt… irate, _angry_ even, and didn't have the words to explain why.

Grumbling to herself, the blunette jerked one of her desk's drawers open, noisily slamming a binder down onto her desk before accidentally ripping out the first page. Cursing eloquently, she fluttered through the next few pages, completely unaware of the silent presence behind her.

"I suppose it is a good thing that my father departed prior to meeting Natsuki," Shizuru commented quietly at her back, smiling a little when Natsuki jumped in her chair before settling once more. "It appears that my dear assistant has woken up on the wrong side of the bed today."

Frowning, the woman refused to turn to face her employer, instead opting to pull up Microsoft Outlook on her computer instead.

"Sorry," she mumbled off-handedly, a forceful shrug settling over her shoulders. "Is that the guy that was in here earlier?"

"Yes," Shizuru replied, walking around Natsuki's desk to lean against it casually, one hand resting on its surface while the other cradled a new cup of tea. "He had decided to bring a proposition to my attention, and was compelled to do so in person due to its significance."

_I bet he did,_ Natsuki inwardly growled. "So he was the only one here?" she asked, innocently. _No way I'm going to let her know that I'm actually curious about her life._

Shaking her head, Shizuru took a soft sip of her tea. "No… Kanzaki-san was here as well. Are you familiar with him? He is the apparent heir to Kanzaki Industries. They're relatively new, but have been doing well."

Lips twisted into a scowl, Natsuki found herself clicking around on her computer's desktop with far more force than necessary. "So a big shot, huh?"

The other girl was strangely silent. Still feeling as though a storm resided in her thoughts, Natsuki continued to click with reckless abandon, speeding through applications with complete disregard, feeling the knots already beginning to form on the very top of her back…

…when suddenly, she felt soft fingertips curling through her hair, winding about the strands carefully. At a sudden loss for words, Natsuki slowly turned her head to the side, eyes locking onto bemused crimson ones.

"Ara… Natsuki seems angry," Shizuru whispered, one finger twirling to wrap darkened tresses around its length. "I do not like seeing my Natsuki so displeased… is there anything I can do to alleviate it?"

Opening her mouth, Natsuki realized that no sound was coming out. She wasn't sure if it was her vocal chords that were shutting down, or if she was simply incapable of speech when her superior was quite literally caressing her, gentle touches becoming increasingly bold. Eyes narrowing, she stared at Shizuru with a look of stark concentration.

"Have I left Natsuki speechless?" Shizuru chuckled lowly, head falling into a graceful tilt as she appraised the woman before her. "Or, perhaps… am I the cause of Natsuki's displeasure?"

"N-n-…y-…no!" the motorcyclist eventually managed, dragging in a shaky breath as she sought to regain her composure. Still, Shizuru's fingers ran through her hair.

"I am glad. Then, if I am not the cause, then perhaps I can be the distraction…?" Shizuru's fingers drew away from Natsuki's hair, trailing carefully over softened cheeks, running manicured nails over tightened jawline and chin. With distanced shock, Natsuki dimly realized that Shizuru had pulled closer, a small smile playing over her lips as her heated breath brushed first over her cheeks, nearing her lips—

"_Kuga-san!"_

Natsuki jerked back in her seat, nearly toppling backwards as her desk's intercom went off. As Shizuru reclined in her stance with an amused look lighting over her features, Natsuki hurriedly rolled her chair forward, clumsily pressing the "reply" button on the damned machine.

"What is it, Morioka?" she barked, too flustered to be polite.

"_Ah… sorry if I caught you at a bad time, Kuga-san,"_ the man spoke apologetically. _"I just have Fujino-sama's next appointment here, and I need to verify the time and identification prior to permitting him access to the upper stories."_

"I'll be in my office, Natsuki," Shizuru spoke as she pushed away from the desk, smiling faintly at the blush that still stained Natsuki's cheeks. The blunette, trying vigorously to ignore the departing woman, could only nod as she awkwardly rifled through her morning's papers on her desk.

"Okay, whatever," she breathed darkly, before going to hit the reply button again. "Okay, Morioka-san. The next appointment is at eight-thirty, and the last name is Tochigo…"

-x-

As the days progressed, Shizuru noticed that Natsuki's apparent agitation only increased. At one moment, the blunette was quiet and sullen, staring crossly at her computer as she reviewed the figures for the day; the next, she was rash, snapping out short statements and, sometimes, trying to ignore Shizuru in her entirety. The moodiness was beginning to concern the executive, leaving her wondering if – perhaps – she had been too forward in her previous actions.

_But she seemed to enjoy them,_ the woman thought to herself as she mindlessly flicked through pages of the region's briefs for the week. _Perhaps I have been reading such signals incorrectly…?_

On Friday, the day before she was supposed to set off on another executive retreat, Shizuru had finally had enough. Seconds before, Natsuki had stormed out of her office, shutting the door behind her with no small amount of force. A small frown marring her features, Shizuru quickly pushed herself up and out of her seat, quick steps soon carrying her out of her private office into the outer one that Natsuki inhabited.

"I hope Natsuki's weekend's free," she started abruptly, coming to a stop directly behind her assistant's chair.

Natsuki, somewhat startled by Shizuru's uncharacteristically sharp tone, shot a quizzical look at the Fujino. "Why, do you need me to fluff your pillows before bedtime?" she countered, sarcastically.

"I'm attending an executive retreat at a nearby resort for the weekend," the honey-haired woman explained, ignoring Natsuki's tone. "I will require Natsuki's presence throughout the entirety of the affair."

Natsuki blanched. "What?! But you've never needed me during those before!"

"Perhaps not, but things have become increasingly hectic," Shizuru returned firmly. "Be ready by 6AM tomorrow. A driver will arrive at your residence at that time."

As Shizuru made as quick of an exit as she had an entry, Natsuki was left slack jawed at her desk, alternating between barely contained anger and overwhelming confusion. Letting her head drop into her hands that rested before her, she rubbed her palms against her closed eyelids, groaning under her breath.

A weekend with Shizuru, far away from distractions, miles away from her quiet and isolated home…

…she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to survive it.

-x-

**author's note:** I hope that this chapter was a bit more satisfying! Once again, thank you for all of the reviews. As always, I appreciate them. If you'd like me to reply to any of them, please let me know; I replied to a few, but I'm trying to avoid coming off as a complete creep (good idea, right?).


	7. Hot Range, Cold Range

**author's note:** I'm back! It's my weekend. I'm starting off my weekly celebration by churning out what I hope will be a fun chapter for you guys. Let me know what you think! (By the way, this is unedited because I was rushing.)

**How May I Assist You?**

_hot range, cold range_

At 6:30AM the next morning, Natsuki was half asleep in the back seat of Toyama's car. The man had arrived at 6AM on the dot to pick her up from her home, which hadn't surprised her in the least. What had surprised (and somewhat relieved) her was the fact that the interim Fujino chauffeur was alone.

After loading Natsuki's single duffel bag into the trunk, they had pulled out of the apartment complex driveway and onto the main roads.

"Fujino-sama apologizes that she could not make the commute with you," Toyama explained after a few moments of polite silence, glancing at his passenger in his rearview mirror. "She wanted me to advise you that she had other commitments to address prior to her own departure, and would meet you at the resort."

"Sounds good to me," mumbled the sleepy girl in the back seat, her head bobbing to the side as she tried to will herself to stay awake.

The drive itself wasn't long, but was enough to take them out of the stifling city confines into the countryside.

After an hour of occasional idle conversation peppered with far more frequent spats of quiet, Natsuki began to perk up, realizing that the blur of urban lights and city noise had begun to recede. Rolling down one of the automated rear windows, she peered out through the crack, taking in a deep breath of the air that whistled by. The air was clean – sweet, even – and promised open dirt tracks, quiet roads, and flush greenery. The growing smile on Natsuki's face faltered a bit when she recalled the entire reason behind her unanticipated "vacation."

"We're here," Toyama spoke over his shoulder, the all-black car slowly turning into a crisp asphalt driveway that was framed by heavy foliage.

As they approached the gates that headed the long entryway, Natsuki looked out once more, fingers pressing against the window's glass. The resort that had been chosen for the retreat appeared simple from the outside, but spoke of its wealth in the volume of beauty that encompassed its gardens. A large variety of plants flourished throughout the compound, a painstakingly chosen selection that bloomed with color and life; several ponds could be seen dotting the surface, accompanied by wells of rocks enshrouded by towering trees and thickets of moss.

The resort itself appeared to be a mix of traditional Japanese architecture combined with the luxuries of the present. Modeled after traditional Shinto and Buddhist designs, the flowering of buildings before them excelled in conveying a sense of surrounding serenity and billowing calm, delicately placed raised porches accenting against cream-colored tatami and shoji. Sakura trees hovered over opened decks, pink blossoms scattered across the darkened wood's surface to land on stilled ponds, several feet away. Though its outward appearance whispered memoirs of a time nearly lost centuries ago, its interior spoke of something else.

Toyama had told Natsuki earlier on during the drive that the resort strove to appeal to both the traditional concerns of its clientele in addition to their high-efficiency business needs. Rooms came equipped with enough technology to power a small working force of stockholders, the resort's business center coming equipped with some of the most advanced technology available at this age. Intermingling with tea houses that were scattered throughout the property were hidden conference rooms, isolated from the areas dedicated to relaxation and filled to the brim with expensive leather seats and mahogany tables with glass tops. Ultimately, the resort had managed to establish itself as one of the top-rated centers for executive retreats, attracting influential persons not only from the local area, but also, from across the globe.

Impressed in spite of herself, the blunette leaned back in her seat, drawing in a lengthy sigh as she felt the car draw to a smooth halt. Moments later, her door was opened from the outside.

"Welcome to Katsura Resort, Kuga-san," Toyama spoke, bowing his head slightly as Natsuki stepped out of the car. "If you go ahead and speak to the receptionist to obtain your room key, I will take care of your luggage and will have someone notify Fujino-sama of your arrival."

"Thanks," Natsuki tossed over her shoulder before heading inside.

-x-

After grabbing her key from the receptionist at the front desk, Natsuki wandered down the lengthy hallways that spanned throughout the main building in the resort, silently mouthing each room number she passed to herself. It wasn't long until she realized that the room that had been selected had probably been chosen for its privacy in addition to its size. After a while, the clutter of rooms seemed to recede, leaving only suites standing ahead of her. Feeling her spirits lifted at the thought of being away from the noise and mess of probably far too polished business persons congregating in an enclosed space, Natsuki finally came to a halt at the last suite located at the end of the hall.

Carefully sliding the key card into the door, a small _whirl_ and _click_ sounded before the lock gave way. The blunette opened the door cautiously, first poking her head in to peer at the interior's surroundings before stepping in herself. As the door closed silently behind her, she let loose a low whistle in despite of her pride. The room was yet another testament to the underlying wealth of the resort.

Wandering into the first room (as the suite appeared to be built to mimic a lavishly adorned apartment more than a hotel room), she noticed that her duffel bag had arrived before her and was politely placed on the nearest counter top. Beyond that was a lounging area, complete with a large flat-screen television, several couches, and a smoothly designed bar. A dining table was off to the side of that, connected to a nearby kitchenette composed of marble and dark woods. Beyond these open spaces was, she presumed, the bedroom.

Green eyes darting to the left, Natsuki wrinkled her nose slightly when she noticed a briefcase casually leaning against a chair's legs. Shizuru had probably arrived before her, and either was silently sneaking about the bedroom or was out at some early morning meeting. Deciding her best bet was to sit and wait, the woman plopped down on the couch, flipping the television on to a sports channel. Just as she began to scoot into a more comfortable (albeit inelegant) position, the sound of the bedroom door opening came from her back, Natsuki's eyes quickly snapping over towards the movement… before slamming to a stop.

Before her stood Fujino Shizuru, wearing… absolutely nothing.

"Ara…" the woman began, a look of barely contained amusement and slight surprise flickering over her features. Her hair – wet and leading trails of water that slid smoothly over her clavicle to continue their journey south – hung in dark tresses about her shoulders, some held carefully in place by a towel that Shizuru had been working across its soaked surface. Her skin nearly glistened, flushed by a presumably hot shower, dotted with specks of moisture that reflected in the dim light of the morning sun, forcing emerald eyes to dart from lithe and slim forearms to a toned stomach that led to curvaceous hips, traveling down further to impossibly smooth legs.

Natsuki, already a stickler for modesty, felt as though her head was going to literally explode.

"Natsuki's here," Shizuru began with an unbearably low murmur, before it was interrupted by a gasp…

…Natsuki fainted.

-x-

Her head was full of fluffy visions of white clouds swirling around silhouetted bodies, fog fluttering in billowing bunches about feet. In the distance she heard a voice calling – it sounded familiar, and oddly beautiful, almost melodic, alluring. The woman felt the world shudder then, slowly – the clouds began to shake, dissipate, flashes of light and jolts of feeling interrupting the calm. She opened her mouth to deny the removal of the fluffiness that was somewhat relaxing, when she was met with a vision of red eyes.

…no, not a vision. Real red eyes.

"Natsuki," Shizuru spoke again, a little more forcefully, as she gently ran fingers through the blunette's hair.

Groaning, Natsuki blinked once – twice – before trying to sit up, her own hand gently brushing Shizuru's to the side as she held her head.

"What the hell happened?" she muttered, her fingers moving to touch at a dab of wetness by her nose, coming back with spots of red.

"Natsuki fainted," the executive stated patiently, a worried smile pulling at the edges of her lips. "And appears to have gotten a nosebleed."

"Shit," the girl grumbled, sitting a little straighter as she grabbed for a tissue, moving to press it against the sluggish flow of red from her nose. It was then that she remembered the reason for her complete shock, and her eyes bolted back towards Shizuru's near (and hopefully no longer naked) figure.

Fortunately for Natsuki's senses, Shizuru had at least the decency to wrap her towel securely around her, hiding some of her form from view. Following Natsuki's stare to her own body, Shizuru looked back up at her assistant and smirked.

"Don't say a word," Natsuki warned, scooting further back into her seat on the couch, eyes flashing towards Shizuru's own as she felt a warm flush take over her cheeks. "I've had enough already."

"Enough of what, Natsuki?" the woman replied, coyly. "Enough of my modesty?"

"No!" Crumpling the tissue and tossing it into a nearby wastebasket, the assistant forced herself to her feet, wobbling a bit as the blood rushed from her head. Shizuru, standing with her, quickly placed a cautionary hand at Natsuki's lower back while grabbing hold of one of her hands. As the dizziness subsided, Natsuki shook her head, slowly extracting herself from Shizuru's hold.

"Thanks, I'm fine now," she muttered, her lips pulling into a grimace as she forced her eyes away from Shizuru's barely clad form and towards _anything other than the Fujino._

Shrugging, Shizuru took a step back from her companion, walking around the couch as she headed back towards the bedroom.

"I'm glad that Natsuki has recovered," she spoke smoothly. "It would be disastrous if my dear companion was unable to attend the first executive brunch of the retreat."

"What? I have to go to what?"

Shizuru glanced over her shoulder as she paused in the threshold to the bedroom. "Brunch. It's not for several hours, so I'm sure you will have adequate time to prepare. I have furnished the closet with several outfits that may suit Natsuki's taste, should she choose to wear them."

As Shizuru disappeared into the bedroom, carelessly leaving the door open behind her, Natsuki roughly sat back down on the couch, burying her face in her hands with a defeated sigh.

Fingertips pushing hard into her temples, she squinted her eyes shut as she cursed. With luck, the outfits that Shizuru provided were nothing like what she had been forced to wear at the gym.

-x-

"I look stupid."

"Don't be silly. Natsuki looks simply enchanting."

"So you're saying I look like a weird episode of 'My Little Pony'? Because that's what ponies and unicorns do; they enchant people."

"Another word for enchanting is 'ravishing,' Natsuki. And I do not wish to 'ravish' a pony."

As Shizuru and Natsuki waltzed into the opening brunch of the weekend, Natsuki tried vainly to hide what felt like a permanent blush that stained her cheeks as Shizuru slid into "elegant Fujino executive" mode. A polite smile garnishing her features, the woman began to breeze about the room, softly greeting various dignitaries with Kyoto-ben laced "good mornings" and graceful inclines of her head. Natsuki, in the meantime, simultaneously embraced Shizuru's shadow while shooting darkened scowls at the multitude of men that looked her way. For some reason, every time Shizuru placed her in an outfit, it resulted in her feeling entirely too exposed, and entirely too awkward.

The outfit was simple but dramatic in its own way, a black pinstripe get-up complete with a pencil skirt and a form-fitting short cut suit jacket. Her undershirt was a deep crimson, which – unsurprisingly enough – matched the color of Shizuru's eyes while providing stark contrast to her own. Grudgingly, she had to admit that she probably looked pretty decent in the get-up, but that still didn't remove the sense of discomfort she felt any time she could feel a breeze working at the long slit in the fabric that dragged up her thigh.

The one argument Natsuki had always implemented in the past against wearing pencil skirts was that they impeded her movement. Shizuru had effectively shut that down by selecting a skirt that was tailored with a professionally opened slit on the side.

After drifting about for a while, Shizuru finally settled at a table near the center, gesturing for Natsuki to take a seat beside her. Doing so, Natsuki distantly noticed that the other executives (some of which appeared to have dragged their assistants along, as well) followed suit, some throwing casual banter about amongst themselves, a group of others flagging down a circulating server for a new pot of tea. A podium at the front, lit in a disk of light, soon found several men and women gathering next to it, murmuring to each other as they exchanged notes. It appeared they were in for a line of speeches as the meal began.

As the crowd began to settle and one man stepped up before the others, a voice penetrated Natsuki's thoughts.

"I apologize for coming late," a man stated, somewhere to Shizuru's left. "Quite the place, isn't it?"

As Natsuki stared holes into the black-haired man that sat at Shizuru's side, the Fujino gently grasped her shoulder, squeezing it softly as she gestured to the latest arrival.

"Natsuki, this is Kanzaki Reito."

-x-

As the presentations went on, Natsuki found it difficult to focus on the food being placed before her and instead found herself staring unflinchingly at the man that sat quietly at Shizuru's side. So engrossed was she in her highly critical examination that she remained oblivious to Shizuru's curious glances, swept over her assistant during brief pauses in the opening speeches.

The last presentation was dwindling to a close when Natsuki was finally shaken from her reverie by Shizuru's soft hand pressing over her own. Jerking slightly in her seat, Natsuki rapidly yanked her glance away from Reito to connect with Shizuru's stare.

"I believe that is more than enough mayonnaise for tamagoyaki," the woman spoke playfully, eyes briefly flickering to the growing pile of the condiment on Natsuki's plate.

"Uh, I-…" Staring down at the mess, Natsuki grimaced. Of course she would have to lose herself in her thoughts in the middle of depositing the stuff on her food.

"Kuga Natsuki, right?" Reito asked, leaning forward to look around Shizuru. When Natsuki didn't reply, instead resorting to stare bullet-holes into Reito's forehead, the man continued, seemingly ignorant of the lack of response. "How is it, working for Shizuru-san? I hear that she can be quite the slave driver."

Natsuki, grinding her teeth at Reito's casual addressing of her employer, felt her lips battling against the urge to draw into an obvious growl. The battle was quickly interrupted by the tingling feeling of movement down her leg. Blinking, Natsuki's eyes drifted downwards, catching a glimpse of Shizuru's hand – mostly hidden under the medium-length table cloth – casting reassuring fingertips across the top of Natsuki's thigh. As Shizuru continued the soothing caress of the woman's leg, she spoke in Natsuki's silence.

"I do not push Natsuki so," she reprimanded lightly, smiling easily at Reito. "She is an asset to my productivity. I do not know what I would do if I did not have Natsuki."

Natsuki, despite feeling indignant by Reito's loose approach towards her profession, couldn't help but feel the weight on her chest lessen after hearing Shizuru's words.

Reito laughed, reclining in his seat. "Maybe I should introduce Takeda-san to her then. He could use some help in that aspect."

"Is he here for the weekend as well?"

"Yes," Reito nodded. "He overslept, so he missed this first event. I'm going to have to remind him that the whole reason I'm paying him is so that he can suffer as much as I do."

As they both laughed, the doors to the room opened, and the crowd began to stand from their seats, intermingling as they meandered towards the exits. Also standing, Reito offered a hand to Shizuru, which she refused with a gentle shake of her head.

"Natsuki and I will be taking advantage of our complimentary meals for a little while longer," she explained, privately excusing the lie in her head.

"Of course. Well, if you happen to have time later, we can discuss the details of the ceremony then. Have a good morning, Shizuru-san."

Shizuru smiled a farewell, inwardly taking note of the sudden stiffening of Natsuki's form beside her.

-x-

After watching Natsuki shove the food around on her plate in what Shizuru could only describe as a "moping" manner, the blunette finally moved to stand, looking expectantly at her boss beside her.

"Well?" she asked, impatiently. "I know you have something planned. What are you dragging me to next?"

Elegantly arching an eyebrow, Shizuru followed suit, getting out of her seat before heading towards the door. "Natsuki makes it sound so torturous," she murmured, eyes smoothly sliding to follow her assistant's movements.

"Because it is," Natsuki grumbled, thoughts tumbling back to the casual conversation between Reito and Shizuru, a factor that irritated her even further because she couldn't even explain her anger behind it. "Meetings, making appearances… not really my thing."

Shizuru stopped suddenly, nearly causing Natsuki to collide with her back. As the green-eyed woman jerked her head backwards, Shizuru turned, a soft hand alighting upon Natsuki's cheek. Natsuki's eyes widened in surprise as Shizuru smiled at her, head tilting to the side.

"And I appreciate Natsuki accompanying me," she spoke earnestly, fingertips trailing blazing paths over pale skin. "Just think of how lost I would have felt, coming alone."

Though a part of Natsuki's mind screamed some nonsense about how none of it was true, _her future husband was there, for God's sake!_, another part of her felt the words sink into her chest and melt a bit of ice that she harbored close. As Shizuru pulled away and began walking once more, Natsuki realized she was still standing in one place, like an idiot. Blinking rapidly, Natsuki kicked herself into motion once more, moving quick to catch up to the woman before her.

"After the last conference for today, we'll do something more aligned with your tastes," the honey-haired woman promised, Natsuki only issuing a sarcastic snort in return.

She found it hard to believe that Shizuru would be interested in doing anything that a Kuga would consider a blast.

-x-

The day had been filled with nothing but meetings, meetings, meetings – even a few things that weren't technically "meetings," but still were treated the same, being filled with people all looking to make a good impression. After a while, Natsuki realized that executive retreats were less about "retreating" and more about establishing a presence with fellow dignitaries. Though some were given relief by not being in their offices, the relaxation could only last as long as the breaks in between various events created with the intent to bond and network amongst other big wigs.

By the time 6PM rolled around, Natsuki was beat. The heels that Shizuru had given her were killing her feet, and her stupid skirt with its stupid pencil style and stupid slit were doing nothing to make her feel comfortable and at ease. When Shizuru mentioned something about going back to the room and changing into something more comfortable before the next event, Natsuki couldn't help but let a sigh of relief fall from her lips.

Thirty minutes later, Natsuki found herself in comfortable jeans, a t-shirt and a hooded jacket, while Shizuru, much to her chagrin, was in short denim cut-offs with a tight fitting v-neck long-sleeved shirt.

"Oi! Do you always have to show everything off?" Natsuki whispered heatedly as the pair walked through the front lobby towards the front exit.

"I do it not for my benefit." Tossing a leisurely glance at her companion, Shizuru let a sly smile slide onto her lips. "After all, I am being seen in Natsuki's company, am I not?"

_Until you're married to that idiot,_ Natsuki shot back in her thoughts.

As the pair stepped out of the front doors, Natsuki – head snapping to the left – had to resist the urge to jump around like an overexcited fan girl. Hopping over four steps at once to land on the ground, she jogged forward, coming to a stop by a cleanly polished Suzuki Hayabusa, decked in reds, blacks, and strips of white.

"Wow," she murmured, a little bit breathless, as she touched careful fingertips to its body, letting them slide over the cooled surface of the metal. "This thing's amazing."

"Does my Natsuki like it?" Shizuru spoke, arriving at Natsuki's side.

"Yeah, definitely," the blunette returned, lost in her visual exploration of the machine. "I wonder who it belongs to. Those suits look too stuffy for something like this."

"And that's probably true," Shizuru mused, arm wrapping around her midsection as she touched a considering fingertip to the corner of her lips. "That's why it's mine."

"What?!" Head whipping back to lock green eyes onto Shizuru's red ones, Natsuki openly stared, mouth left agape. "Yours? What do you mean?"

Eyes filling with silent laughter, Shizuru nodded, slowly. "I purchased it just recently and had it delivered here. I figured that Natsuki would enjoy it if we traveled to our next destination in a means that would be deemed more… 'Kuga acceptable'."

Mouth working a few times before she remembered to snap it shut, Natsuki repressed the urge to lift Shizuru and swing her around in a gripping hug. Instead, she giddily hopped onto the bike, hands wrapping around the throttle and tightening in excited experimentation. Lifting her head to grin widely at Shizuru, Natsuki suddenly realized something, and her smile turned hesitant.

"I…" she started, pausing, before continuing again. "…am driving, right?"

Laughing outright, Shizuru nodded as she slipped onto the motorcycle behind her Natsuki, going to pull a helmet over her head before wrapping her arms tightly around the blunette's stomach.

"But of course."

-x-

The ride to Shizuru's destination of choice was only ten minutes long, but that was likely due to the speed Natsuki took everything at. Shizuru wondered at her own degree of trust for the dark-haired girl as she took curves so deep that Natsuki's knee nearly touched the pavement, bursting forward on straightaways with such force that she could feel her breath leave her. She supposed it was the overwhelming sense of underlying confidence that Natsuki laced into her steps, though it seemed that the woman was unaware of it. Each and every one of Natsuki's movements – including her flailing ones, which would send her in a heap into a potted plant – was filled with a sense of controlled power and dominant grace.

If Shizuru had to choose one person to trust her life to, select a single entity that she deemed capable of protecting it with all of their resources and abilities, she knew, without a second thought, that it would be Natsuki.

"Where are we?" Natsuki asked, pulling her helmet off of her head before letting it hang off the handlebars.

"A range," Shizuru spoke placidly, walking around a lone building's side to head towards the back.

Natsuki, trailing behind her, could only echo her confusion. "A range?"

"You'll see."

As they rounded the corner of the small structure, Natsuki was greeted with a row of stalls separated by wooden slats, each with a small table held off to the side and several benches. A long stretch divided the first area from another section further back that held a row of silhouettes, some dotted with a mixture of large and small holes. At the center of two stalls stood a man that held a duffel bag, smiling as Shizuru lifted her hand in a wave. As Shizuru walked forward to talk to the man quietly, Natsuki was left staring at the targets that lined the dirt yards away before them.

Shizuru had taken her to an outdoor shooting range.

"Natsuki!"

Looking away from the targets spaced out before them, Natsuki glanced at Shizuru as she gestured her over, the uniformed man walking away from the honey-haired woman with empty hands. As Natsuki carefully walked towards her employer, Shizuru unzipped the duffel, pulling a single case from its confines along with several boxes.

"Have you shot a gun before?" Shizuru asked when Natsuki arrived beside her.

Scoffing, the Kuga crossed her arms indignantly before her chest. "Of course."

Smiling at Natsuki's tone, the woman popped the case open, bringing out a two-toned 9mm, offering it barrel first to Natsuki. As the blunette took it and began to examine it, Shizuru drew out a few magazines, sliding open one of the boxes that held bullets next to her.

"It's a compact model. I have others as well, but this happens to be one of my favorites," Shizuru explained. "It's not standard issue, but it fits my tastes quite well. Are you familiar with handguns?"

Smirking, Natsuki put the gun down on the table, grabbing a magazine and loading it within record time. Instantly snapping the gun back up, she cleared the chamber, slapped the magazine in, cocked it back, and leveled it forward.

"How about instead of answering that," the woman stated, grabbing and putting on a set of earmuffs as Shizuru did the same, "I show you. Hot range!"

With the final warning, Natsuki let loose, emptying the magazine before slamming in a second, repeating her prior performance with remarkable speed. As her second magazine dropped, emptied, to the ground, she heaved a sigh, taking a step back as she pulled the earmuffs from her head. Shizuru, looking serene regardless of the shockingly loud display that had just taken place, appraised Natsuki's performance with a pleasant smile.

"Cease fire, cold range," Natsuki muttered to herself, already working to reload the first magazine.

As Natsuki started on the second magazine, Shizuru picked up an untouched silhouette before heading downrange. Pulling the first free from its hold and replacing it, she brought it back, holding the target before her as she examined it.

"How did I do?" Natsuki called as Shizuru approached, placing the filled magazine on the table next to her.

"Very well," Shizuru surmised, stopping in front of the blunette to hand her the target. "Excellent grouping," she added, smiling again as Natsuki pumped a fist after taking hold of the silhouette, then poked her hand through the fist-sized hole that stood at the target's bull's eye. The ability to shoot multiple magazines full of bullets at a single target and hit with all of them dead on had been something she had perfected over the years. Having reached a bullet deployment speed that was often considered impossible and landing all of her hits within a two-inch diameter from 50 yards back with a gun usually favored for 15 to 25 yard shots, she knew her abilities with a firearm - handguns in particular - were borderline unreal.

As Natsuki continued to pour over the target with her critical eye, Shizuru grasped the 9mm, loading her first magazine before gesturing to Natsuki to step back. Raising an eyebrow, Natsuki moved to the side as she went to pull the protective earmuffs back over her head.

"You need me to show you anything?" she offered, struggling and failing to hide an overconfident grin that had lit over her face. "How to look down the sights, a proper stance… anything?"

"I think I can figure it out," the honey-haired woman returned. "Range is hot."

The ten shots of the magazine rang out, not nearly as rapid as Natsuki's display, but still at a speed deemed faster than most. Down dropped the first magazine and the second came up, another set of ten bullets screaming through the air before slamming through their destinations. As the echo of the shots faded in the emptied range, Shizuru calmly removed her earmuffs, a hand raising to casually comb through mussed locks. Natsuki, frozen in place, could only stare.

"You may check my aim," Shizuru offered, throwing an informal look over her shoulder. Natsuki, remembering she was capable of speech, managed a grunt in reply before stiffly moving forward.

Though Natsuki had amazingly accurate aim when deploying a flurry of speedy bullets at 50 yard range, Shizuru, it seemed, had a deadly singular shot. Instead of keeping to a single target before her, the executive had fired a single shot into the head of each silhouette remaining downrange before repeating the process from left to right with the second magazine. When Natsuki reached the targets, she saw that each bullet had traveled through the direct center of the silhouettes' foreheads, with barely any indication that a second had followed its partner, each having landed remarkably close to the first bullet's mark.

Having not bothered to remove any of the targets, the Kuga trudged back.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" she demanded.

Shizuru, as placid as ever, gave an elegant shrug. "My father insisted," she murmured, eyes colliding solidly with Natsuki's own. "He recognized that any of us could become a target, what with our family's high profile in society. I've been around firearms ever since I was able to load one myself, and have kept up with the practice since leaving home."

Flashing a brilliant smile at her companion, Shizuru quietly excused herself, moving to get water from an outdoor refrigerator left near the back door. As she watched the executive walk away, Natsuki shook her head before turning back towards the partially emptied box of bullets next to her.

_Maybe Mai's right,_ Natsuki thought, a little perturbed, as she pushed bullet after bullet into the clip. _If that wasn't fucking hot, I don't know what is._

-x-

After firing off a multitude of rounds at the range, Shizuru and Natsuki finally headed home, getting back to the resort by 8PM. As Shizuru showered, Natsuki – already cleaned up and dressed in a close-fitting tank top and pajama pants – appraised their sleeping quarters. With an inward groan she let her eyes sweep over the single bed that resided in the master bedroom, agitated regardless of its king sized mattress. A part of her brain supposed that she shouldn't be surprised that Shizuru had booked a room that only had a single bed.

By the time Shizuru came out of the bathroom, Natsuki was huddled on the room's couch with a pile of pillows and a scratchy blanket that she had pulled from a nearby closet. Eyes widening, Shizuru clucked her tongue, going to sit by Natsuki's feet as the blunette flipped about in discomfort, movements quieting as she felt Shizuru gently place a hand on her lower leg.

"What is this?" the woman asked, softly.

"This is my reaction to someone's brilliant idea to get us a room with one bed without realizing that there are two people in here," Natsuki replied, before quipping out a muffled curse as her head bumped into a particularly uncomfortable part of the couch's arm rest.

Shaking her head, Shizuru lifted a hand and tugged the blanket off Natsuki's form, ignoring the woman's mumbled protests. As Natsuki darted a hand out to try and grab the blanket to yank it back, Shizuru caught it and held it in place.

"Don't be silly, Natsuki," she chided, pulling the blanket further out of Natsuki's reach. "Just sleep in the bed. Tomorrow's itinerary is full; I would hate it if the entirety of the day was spent listening to my companion moan about the crick in her neck."

"Tch," Natsuki scoffed as she sat up, rubbing her neck before jerking her hand away, realizing she was proving Shizuru's point. "So where would you sleep?"

Shizuru's smile exuded patience. "In the bed."

"…so we'd both be—…"

"Yes," the woman concluded, standing as she folded the spare blanket, placing it back onto the top shelf of the opened closet. "I'll be back in just a moment."

As Shizuru went back into the bathroom and turned on the sink's faucet, Natsuki forced herself off the couch, moving with apprehensive steps until she sat on the edge of the bed. After sitting there for thirty seconds mumbling to herself about how everything in her life appeared to be presently composed of bad ideas, she flung her feet off the ground and onto the bed, burrowing under the blankets before curling up in a tight ball near the edge. Wrapping the sheets around her form, the blunette settled into place, grudgingly realizing that the bed was, in fact, a million times more comfortable than the couch. It wasn't long until her eyelids began fluttering shut.

Placing her toothbrush carefully on a towel that lay on the counter, Shizuru flicked the bathroom light off, closing the door behind her. Circulating about the room, she turned off the few lamps that remained on before retiring to the bed, carefully sliding in between the sheets, crimson eyes resting heavily on Natsuki's form. Her assistant's body remained immobile in front of her, deep and even breaths quietly drawing over her peaceful figure. A small smile forming on her features, Shizuru laid down on her side facing towards the dark-haired woman, slender arms going to wrap around the Kuga's midsection.

"Nn…?" Natsuki mumbled in her half-asleep state, a tiny frown marring her features.

"Shh," Shizuru whispered, breath a hot caress across the back of Natsuki's neck, sending gentle shivers down the woman's spine.

Distantly recognizing the soft voice at her back, Natsuki's body relaxed, curling into a tighter ball as one arm went to loop over Shizuru's own. It wasn't long until Shizuru's own eyes fluttered shut, the soft smile remaining on her lips.

-x-

**author's note: **For anyone that's in Hurricane Sandy's path, please be safe; my thoughts are with you. Other than that… I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter! So much easier to write on my days off… ugh. Work was painfully stressful this past weekend. Got to love time off.

**Some notes on the gun part:** I know it may look like Shizuru's a better shot than Natsuki, but really... she isn't; they're equal, just with different skills. Firing a single shot long range with ridiculous accuracy may make you a great sharpshooter, but it's entirely different than unloading a full two magazines into a small grouped area focused at someone's midsection (this coming from someone that shoots). Usually, when you fire full speed, the kickback throws your aim off, especially since you're not taking the time to look down the sights before each shot... so you'll go from shooting at the center to slowly traveling up (unless you're overcompensating mid-firing, then you'll start shooting down). The best way to explain it is to state that Shizuru would be your best bet if you needed to call in a SWAT sniper, while Natsuki would be ideal for first entry into a locked down house, firing a 9mm at close quarters. Just threw this in here after realizing that - as someone pointed it out - I may have made it look like Shizuru is completely dominating Natsuki at everything... but really, that's not what I intended to express! :] (Not in this chapter, anyways... haaaa. Or maybe not. Or maybe so. We'll see.)


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